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Apple, Acer, Asus surge, but HP still leads global PC market [San Jose Mercury News, Calif.](San Jose Mercury News (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jun. 5--Global personal-computer shipments surged 22.7 percent in the first quarter, with double-digit gains by Hewlett-Packard, Apple and other manufacturers, according to a report Friday from tech researcher iSuppli. "The first three months of 2010 delivered the highest quarterly PC shipment growth on a year-over-year basis since iSuppli began tracking the market in 2003," Matthew Wilkins, iSuppli's principal analyst for computer platforms, said in an e-mail. Global PC shipments totaled 81.5 million during the quarter, up from 66.5 million a year earlier. "This record growth resulted from strong sales in the first quarter of 2010 combined with weak conditions during the first three months of 2009," Wilkins said. HP remained the leader, shipping about 16 million PCs, up 22.2 percent, but slightly underperforming the market's growth. The Palo Alto company had a 19.6 percent market share. In a note to clients this week, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Dinesh Moorjani said he expects more gains by PC makers such as HP this year as the economy recovers and businesses replace older equipment. "HP should be a beneficiary of the enterprise PC upgrade cycle, which is in its very early innings," Moorjani wrote in an e-mail. El Segundo-based iSuppli also noted big increases by Taiwan computer makers Acer and Asus. Shipments by No. 2 Acer surged 47.1 percent to 10.9 million, giving it a 13.3 percent share. Asus' shipments jumped 136.2 percent to 4.4 million, for a 5.4 percent share. Cupertino-based Apple was the only U.S. computer maker to outperform the market. Mac shipments jumped 32.4 percent to 2.8 million, according to iSuppli. "Apple's Macintosh line is benefiting from the halo effect of the enormous popularity of its iPhones and iPads," Wilkins said. Overall, desktop computer shipments were up 1 percent year over year, according to iSuppli. Notebook sales, though, jumped 26.5 percent. Apple stock closed Friday at $255.96, down $7.15, or 2.7 percent, amid a broad decline on Wall Street. HP dropped $1.43, or 3 percent, to $46.05. Contact Frank Russell at 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike. To see more of the San Jose Mercury News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mercurynews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |