Dell loses no. 2 spot to Acer

Dell Inc, once the world’s top seller of personal computers, fell from second to third place in the global PC market last quarter after Acer Inc surged past the company.

Dell was the only top-five PC maker to see its shipments drop in the third quarter from a year earlier, market research firms IDC and Gartner Inc said today in separate reports. Hewlett-Packard Co, which took the lead from Dell in 2006, retained its top ranking.

Dell has struggled to reach consumer laptop shoppers -- the industry’s biggest source of growth right now, said Loren Loverde, an analyst for IDC. Acer’s shipments surged 25.6 percent last quarter, the fastest growth among the top PC makers, buoyed by sales of low-cost netbooks. Dell gets about 80 percent of its sales from business customers, with 20 percent coming from consumers.

“They’re dropping for the same reason that they have been having trouble over the last couple of years: They’re more focused on U.S. commercial desktops than all their competitors,” Loverde said. “Where the market has been growing is in retail with portables. That’s proven to be a challenge for Dell.”

‘Profitable growth’
Dell’s worldwide share fell to 12.7 percent from 14.2 percent on an 8.4 percent drop in shipments, IDC said. Gartner put Dell’s drop at 6.7 percent.

“We’re focused on profitable growth and not simply share gain,” Dell said in a statement. “We’ll announce financial results for our fiscal third quarter on Nov. 19 and will hold further comment until then.”

The total market rose 2.3 percent, a rebound from declines in the first and second quarters, IDC said. Hewlett-Packard, based in Palo Alto, California, captured a 20.2 percent share after a 9.3 percent gain in shipments, IDC said. Lenovo Group Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. rounded out the top five.

In the US market, which grew 2.5 percent last quarter, Hewlett-Packard led, followed by Dell and Acer, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC. Gartner, based in Stamford, Connecticut, gave the U.S. lead to Dell.

Both research firms ranked Apple Inc, maker of the Macintosh computer, in fourth place in the US.

Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, rose 32 cents to $15.63 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 53 percent this year. Hewlett-Packard advanced $1.20 to $47.89.