Apple takes third place in US computer market

Market research outfit IDC has released the Q3 Worldwide PC Tracker report showing strong growth from Apple in a sluggish US market.

IDC said that the global PC market grew 11 per cent in the third quarter of 2010 which was 3 per cent lower than expected. The firm cited constrained consumer spending and singled out the US for the largest difference in forecast growth with actual shipments, realising just 3.8 per cent growth as compared to IDC projections of 11 per cent.

"Despite a sluggish start, the quarter ended with a good rally in September which could be a good prelude for what is ahead," said IDC PC analyst Jay Chou. "Lower PC component costs, budding excitement around new media-centric form factors and continued business buying should still make for a competitive holiday season.”

The surprise performer in the US market was that of Apple. While top ranked PC builder HP grew market share 2.7 per cent year on year in the third quarter, Dell US PC shipments were down 5 per cent and the Acer group held steady. Apple, however, grew an astonishing 24.1 per cent to take 10.6 per cent of the US computer shipment market, enough to overtake Acer and become the third largest computer shipper in the US.

The worldwide picture was better with 11 per cent growth but top ranked HP sales were flat and Acer and Dell grew sales at 7 and 9.7 per cent respectively. The top three lost market share overall as Asian giants Toshiba, Asus and Lenovo made gains. Apple didn’t feature in the top six worldwide in the IDC report.