The number of personal computers shipped worldwide by Hewlett-Packard Co. soared past rivals, according to a report by Stamford, Conn.-based researcher Gartner Inc.
HP widened its share of the PC market to nearly 18%. It was No. 1 with about 11 million PCs shipped worldwide, up nearly 30% from a year earlier.
Gartner counts “units shipped” as desktop and mobile PCs and X86 servers, the most common ones sold with today’s computers.
No. 2 Dell Inc., which competes in a constant tug-of-war with HP, saw its market share slip to about 14%. Dell shipped about 8.7 million units, down about 8% from a year ago.
“HP was helped by (Microsoft Corp.’s) Vista operating system consumer launch in the mature regions, and it is benefiting from a strong position in the (distribution) channel,” said Mikako Kitagawa, head analyst for Gartner Dataquest’s computing markets group.
The first quarter was a transitional one for Dell, Kitagawa said.
At No. 3 was Taiwan’s Acer Inc. with about 4.2 million computers and servers shipped. Raleigh, N.C.-based Lenovo Group Ltd. came in at No. 4 with about 4 million.
Lenovo’s taking drastic measures to get back into the top three. The company said earlier this month it would lay off 1,400 workers and move about 750 jobs overseas to better compete with its rivals.
Japan’s Toshiba Corp., including its Irvine Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. unit,which also makes laptops,rounded out the top five with 2.5 million computers shipped.
In the U.S., Dell kept the top spot, but it shipped a lot less PCs than expected. Dell shipped about 4 million computers in the U.S., down nearly 16% from a year ago.
Dell’s results stemmed from weakness in the home computers market, according to the report. Its U.S. market share fell to about 28% from about 34% a year ago.
HP was able to counteract weaker demand by ramping up its shipments to retailers and businesses, the report showed. HP is on Dell’s heels with about 26% market share for the quarter.
Irvine’s Gateway Inc. also saw slower growth, with about 1.1 million units shipped in the quarter. Gateway came in at No. 3 with about 8% of the U.S. market. No. 4 Toshiba holds about 5% of the market with about 805,000 computers shipped.
Despite the popularity of Apple Inc.’s personified Mac vs. PC commercials, the company sits at No. 5 with about 741,000 computers shipped.
Distribution Deals
Aliso Viejo-based Silicon Systems Inc., a maker of external computer memory drives, said it inked deals with five technology distributors in Asia.
The distributors are set to deliver the company’s SiliconDrive line to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
“SiliconSystems recognized the enormous market potential in the Asia-Pacific region several years ago,” Chief Executive Michael Hajeck said. “The company has been successful in gaining widespread acceptance of its SiliconDrive technology by industry-leading original equipment manufacturers headquartered in the region and contract manufacturers.”
The Asian distributors are Hong Kong based-AV Concept Holdings Ltd., Australia’s Control Synergy, South Korea’s SemiPlus Co., Japan’s SolidGear Corp. and top Chinese distributor Weikeng Industrial Co., which also counts IBM Corp. and LSI Corp. as customers.
SiliconSystems makes what are called “solid-state” storage products.
The company’s product looks like a 2.5-inch disk drive. Instead of the platters and heads found in disk drives, SiliconSystems’ devices are full of memory chips.
Like disk drives, they have a controller,a circuit board with chips,for connecting the device to a computer.
They’re designed to store small amounts of data, sometimes in hot, cold, dusty or otherwise tough settings.
The devices are used in medical instruments, video poker machines, electronic voting gear, corporate voice mail systems and military equipment.
Privately-held Silicon Systems doesn’t disclose sales.
Game Venture
Computer game experts at the University of California, Irvine, plan to team up with Korean researchers to study game networks, new game devices and next-generation play. UCI’s California Institute for Telecommunication and Information Technology, known as Calit2, and the Computer Game Culture and Technology Lab are set to host a three-year, $1.3 million-joint venture with the Center for Digital Industry Promotion in Daegu City, Korea.
The researchers expect to do most of their work over a high speed digital network and interactive video conferencing.
Korean scholars, managers and chief executives plan to visit UCI several times for conferences and workshops.
They are set to investigate new game networks that will allow a single game to be played on multiple devices.
“We want to help expand domestic and international markets for computer games that incorporate new technology to facilitate cross-cultural game development and play,” said Walt Scacchi, associate director for research at UCI’s Game Lab.
The Game Lab is housed within UCI’s School of the Arts.
