Dell Rides Booming PC Market in Q1 -- Redmond Channel Partner

Dell Rides Booming PC Market in Q1

By Scott Bekker
April 20, 2004

Dell recaptured the lead from HP for total worldwide PC shipments in the first quarter of 2004, a period when the overall PC market saw double-digit growth on strong U.S. and European demand, according to IDC.

For the quarter, Dell had year-on-year growth of 28 percent to nearly 7.7 million unit shipments. That represented 18.6 percent of the 41.2-million-unit worldwide PC market for the quarter. Overall the market grew compared against the year-ago quarter by 16.5 percent.

"This quarter's results reveal a robust market and the improving business demand we've been looking for," Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, said in a statement. Loverde attributed the growth to an aging installed base, rapid portable adoption and aggressive pricing.

Dell's growth was seen as capitalizing on improved business demand. "As occurred last year, HP's fourth quarter lead gave way to a more business-oriented market in the first quarter. Growth of 15.8 percent (for HP) was strong but was just behind total market growth," IDC noted. The analyst house says HP owes the bulk of its growth to consumers and the company will need to capture growing business demand to gain share in 2004.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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