Apple, Dell big market share winners for the first quarter

Worldwide PC market sales results are in for the first quarter. Sales in both the US and the world market were up, though the actual trends were mixed. According to Gartner, US sales grew at a sluggish 3.5 percent, or half of what was originally predicted for the quarter. Worldwide sales, however, rose by 14.6 percent, beating industry estimates by two points. Dell and Apple were the two big winners this quarter; Dell's sales grew by 21.8 percent worldwide, while Apple sales rose by 32.5 percent in the US.

Data source: Gartner

After a disappointing 2007, Dell's results improved markedly in the first quarter. The company grew its market share by a solid 3.5 percentage points in the US. Dell has yet to comment on the reasons for this growth, though the company spent much of last year pushing Dell boxes into various retail outlets and cutting deals with companies like Best Buy. The other top manufacturers in the US saw relatively little movement, save for Acer, which lost 2.4 percentage points in the US PC market. Apple saw its share grow 1.4 percentage points, while Toshiba was nearly flat with a 0.1.

Apple's 1.4 percentage point increase may be small in absolute terms, but the company's market share has been climbing rapidly. Analyst estimates projected Apple's market share was around six percent last January, and the company's February sales grew by some 60 percent year-over-year. Dell and HP may not be in imminent danger, but Acer should look to stem its own losses, or risk moving from number three to number four in the US.

Data source: Gartner

Worldwide, the figures shake out differently. Here, HP is still the dominant company, with sales up 17.5 percent year-on-year. Dell, however, is still coming on strong, possibly partly thanks to the deals the company cut last year with major Chinese retailers. Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba all posted good results; market share was up across the board.

Low-cost PCs like the Asus Eee and Everex's Cloudbook were popular in the first quarter, but analysts are shying away from making any projections on how these devices might shape 2008 sales. More manufacturers are set to introduce their own low-cost designs in coming months, which will make it easier to predict what impact this emerging sector will have on the market as a whole.

The fact that the worldwide PC market is flourishing despite the relatively sluggish growth rate of the US isn't surprising. The US and Euro zone PC markets are relatively mature, while the biggest growth will continue to come in geographies like Asia and South America. In these markets, price, and not the badge on the case, is paramount.