RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – HP is opening its lead over Lenovo in the world of PC sales with Dell closing in on the No. 2 spot.
IDC reports HP grew its sales by 4.3 percent year-over-year in the first quarter to 13.7 million and expanded its market share to 22.6 percent from 21.7 percent.
Lenovo, meanwhile, shipped 12.3 million, which was nearly identical to Q1 2017. Its market share remained 20.4 percent.
Dell is climbing toward No. 2, having shipped 10.2 million units, a 6.4 percent year-over-year increase. That’s good for a one-point bump in market share to 16.9 percent.
In the US, Gartner said Lenovo shipments fell to 1.63 million, down nearly 5 percent.
“Lenovo achieved 6 percent growth in EMEA and double-digit shipment growth in Latin America,” Gartner added, noting two bright spots.
“However, in Asia/Pacific (its largest market), PC shipments declined 4 percent.”
IDC chart tracking PC shipment Q1 2018
Noted IDC: “Lenovo saw a flat quarter in 1Q18, the third consecutive quarter in which the company saw year-on-year volume stabilize with flat global growth and a slower pace of decline in the US.”
Overall, IDC said the PC industry did better than expected with flat sales.
“Although the numbers are preliminary, the data seems to indicate a continued build up in commercial renewal activity as the main driver for the stabilizing trend. Business uptake of Windows 10 systems appear to be steadily ongoing, benefitting commercially-focused PC OEMs such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo.” IDC reported.
“Demand for premium notebooks in both the consumer and commercial segments have also helped major vendors retain better margins and garner buyer interest. Furthermore, continued focus on gaming systems has injected slight improvement in pockets of the consumer space. Unlike the first quarter of 2017, an improved supply of key notebook components also loosened pressures on both supply and pricing, leading to some recovery of share for the smaller vendors.”
