Dell tops worldwide PC shipments

APRIL 24--Dell Computer Corp. (Round Rock, TX; www.dell.com) grabbed the lead in worldwide PC shipments from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), according to research recently released by IDC (Framingham, MA; www.idc.com). Dell shipped about 6 million units in the first quarter of 2003, up 24.7% from 4.8 million units in the first quarter of last year. HP shipped 5.5 million units, down 5.7% from the combined 5.8 million units shipped by HP and the former Compaq Computer Corp. in the first quarter last year.

Overall, worldwide shipments increased 2.1% from last year's first quarter to 34.6 million units, the third straight quarter of growth, said Roger Kay, director of client computing at IDC. "That's encouraging, but it's still sluggish growth," he said.

Dell's direct model helped it return to the top spot it last held in the third quarter of 2002. But the main reason for the switch can be chalked up to the buying patterns of consumers vs. corporations, Kay said.

Dell captured 17.3% of the worldwide market, while HP trailed with 15.8% in this year's first quarter. The study measured sales of desktops and notebooks, as well as servers based on the standard Intel Corp. architecture priced under $25,000.