The competitive PC original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business saw stalwart Lenovo secure the global third place spot this month. According to IHS iSuppli, the China-based company usurped Acer after the former number three delivered a less-than-stellar second quarter performance. Buoyed by its own strong showing, Lenovo is now nipping at Dell's heels. Hewlett-Packard, however, maintains a considerable lead on both.
Lenovo shipped over 18 million units so far this year, said IHS. Over 10 million of those were sent out in the past four months - a 25 percent increase over the year's opening quarter.
Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms at IHS, believes the boost goes well beyond Lenovo being hometown heroes for an expanding Chinese marketplace; Acer dropping the ball certainly didn't hurt.
"Beyond the continuing strength in its home market of China - where both the economy and PC demand continued to expand vigorously - Lenovo's performance in the second quarter was boosted by rising sales in other regions," said Wilkins. "These regions included the broader Asia-Pacific area, as well as the United States, with Lenovo performing well in those places because of demand from the enterprise segment."
The analyst cited inventory issues as the main cause for Acer's tumble, but confirmed overall market conditions have improved. After slumping in the first quarter, the PC market rebounded with a six percent increase to over 85 million units shipped worldwide. The turnaround was also a year-over-year increase of just under four percent.
Apple and Samsung, though ranked seven and eight on the list, also enjoyed double-digit growth said IHS. One may even rub elbows with four other top OEMs soon.
"Apple's growth is attributable to its products being highly desirable and continuing to appeal to consumers, despite the weaker consumer demand environment," said Wilkins. "The company's performance was so strong that Apple now is less than one percentage point away from having sufficient market share to enter the top five rankings."
