Apple, Acer, Toshiba lead charge in US PC sales

Smaller computer companies such as Apple are continuing to make the greatest inroads into the US PC business, according to preliminary data for spring 2007 just released today by market watchdog IDC. The company noted that while HP continued to take marketshare from current leader Dell and shipped over 4 million PCs in the last three months, it was relative newcomers to the top five that showed the largest gains in the country. Acer in particular saw a "rapid" explosion of business, delivering 881,000 units -- 164 percent more PCs than in spring 2006. Toshiba also grew 50 percent to 901,000 but was eclipsed by Apple, which reached is estimated to have grown 26 percent and shipped 960,000 Macs in the same period.

Despite the dramatic changes in sales, positions are largely static compared to recent months, according to the market report. Dell, HP, and Gateway have largely retained their first, second, and third spots held since last year; Apple maintained a fourth-place position with an increase from 4.8 percent to 5.6 percent in the past twelve months. Acer and Toshiba jumped from 2.1 and 3.8 percent to 5.2 and 5.3 percent respectively, IDC said.

Worldwide share was also close in spirit to earlier months, with HP leading Dell and Lenovo, Acer, and Toshiba occupying the remaining places in the top five system builders. The most growth was in Asian countries such as China, where Lenovo and other local vendors stood to benefit the most from growth. American sales, in contrast, were said to be sluggish and grew overall by just 7.2 percent.

"A return to double-digit growth in the US market will be difficult to achieve," said IDC's PC division manager David Daoud.