Dell Reclaims PC Sales Lead
Posted by configure on 18 April 2003 - 01:28 · 1 comment & 524 views
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#1 Posted by NeoWhen on 18 Apr 2003 - 12:37
- Dell may be the leader in sales but their customer support ranking would be last.
Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, reclaimed the sales lead from Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co., according to figures released Thursday by research firms IDC and Gartner Dataquest. Dell and HP have been trading places in the top spot over the past year.
Dell's ties to business customers proved more resilient than HP's consumer base in the first three months of 2002, a quarter that generally favors the corporate market. Research firm IDC reported that Dell's worldwide sales grew 24.7 percent to 5,989,000, and its market share improved from 14.2 percent to 17.3 percent.
IDC had HP's share at 15.8 percent, below the combined 17.1 percent share of Compaq and HP before last year's merger.
IBM and Fujitsu Siemens were third and fourth, respectively, in IDC's rankings. Toshiba, which sells notebook computers almost exclusively, broke the top five for the first time. Specific sales figures on notebooks aren't yet available, but IDC analyst Roger Kay called Toshiba's 15.6 percent growth the biggest news in the latest figures.
"It says notebooks are becoming a big deal, and we have confirming data from other vendors on similar trends," he said.
Worldwide, PC shipments grew 2.1 percent from a year ago to 34.6 million, in line with expectations of 2 percent growth, according to IDC. U.S. sales rose 1.5 percent, ahead of the forecast of a 0.5 percent decline.
Gartner Dataquest, which uses slightly different measurements, calculated Dell's share at 16.9 percent and HP's at 15.6 percent, and said total worldwide sales rose 5.5 percent, largely on stronger sales in North America. Both research firms said pricing pressure contributed to the uptick.
"Overall consumer demand was stronger than anticipated, as well as continuing strong notebook demand," Gartner analyst Charles Smulders said.
Both companies, however, said PC sellers resorted to aggressive pricing to keep sales moving -- so the uptick in units shipped won't necessarily translate into higher profits.
Kay said Dell's model of selling computers directly off its Web site continues to be the "meat grinder" of the industry. But HP could bounce back in later quarters that favor the consumer market, especially given the early success of HP's new Media Center PCs, he said.
"If that turns out to be the consumer thing this year ... that could make a big difference in volume," Kay said.