iSuppli now ranks Acer ahead of Dell in PC market

Lifted by fast-growing notebook shipments, Taiwan's Acer Inc. grabbed the No. 2 spot in the global PC market for the first time over Dell Inc., according to iSuppli Corp. That helped it leap ahead of Dell. The market researcher also confirmed that the PC market is starting to rebound, and now expects this year's sales to be almost flat compared to the prior year's. Boosted by a 17% year-over-year growth in notebook (including netbook) shipments, Acer had 13.4% of the 79.9 million PCs shipped globally in the third quarter, said iSuppli. Hurt by sluggish corporate IT spending, Dell's sales fell 5.9% and it recorded a 12.9% share.

On the rebound, Lenovo's shipments growing 17.2% year-over-year, giving it fourth place. "Acer's rise to the No. 2 rank in the global PC business reflects not only its strong performance in the notebook segment, but also the historic rise of Asia as a primary force in the computer industry," said iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins in a statement. Another Asian manufacturer, Lenovo Corp., also had a standout quarter. Acer and Lenovo were ranked just No. 6 and No. 8, respectively, in 2003, Wilkins said. "The Asian manufacturers are a growing force in the global PC business due to their aggressive pricing along with their ability to quickly react and embrace new developments, such as the netbook PC," Wilkins said. Both IDC Corp. and Gartner Inc. had already ranked Acer ahead of Dell. iSuppli is the third market tracker to note Acer's rise to number two. HP remained atop the heap for the 13th straight quarter, with 19.9% of the market.

iSuppli also said that Q3 shipments overall grew year-over-year (1.1%) for the first time in a year, while growing 19% from the second quarter. "The sequential and year-over-year shipment increases show that the PC industry emerged from the downturn and began to grow again in the third quarter," Wilkins said. Toshiba is No. 5 globally, with a 5.0% share, iSuppli said. Notebook shipments were "critical in driving growth," as they never wavered into the negative even during the worst quarters, he added. As a result, the PC market is now expected to decline just 0.9%, rather than iSuppli's earlier prediction of a 4% decline. Christmas and Windows 7 will conspire to "bring more good news for PC makers," said Wilkins.