Research firm IDC reported that global PC sales rose 22.4% in the second quarter as many companies and individuals replaced older computers. Europe’s demand rose, which will not continue into the second half of the year because the economy in the region is expected to slow.
The surprising figure came from Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL).Much of the improvement in global sales came from tablet PCs and mini-notebooks. Dell shipments rose 19.1% and it took back the No.2 place among global computer companies, passing Acer. Dell did lose a small amount of market share, but it gained on its arch-enemy Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), which had a drop of 1.6%.
The threat to the two large US PC firms is still from Asia. Lenovo’s shipments rose 47.3%. Asus sales increased by 83.6% and Toshiba shipments were up 26.2%.
One explanation for Dell’s success is its large presence in the corporate and small business markets. IT spending has recovered somewhat. Dell probably benefited from that.
Dell may lose a great deal of its gain in the second half. News that it may have shipped millions of PC’ with flaws could hurt the company’s image enough to drive buyers to other manufacturers. The scandals around the firm’s accounting and its possible illegal financial relationship with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) may also make some clients shy away.
But Dell had its day in the sun in the first half, an unexpected one. It was the only good news Dell has had since the beginning of the year.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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