EL SEGUNDO, CA – Acer has captured the No. 2 position in the global PC market on a quarterly basis for the first time, says iSuppli Corp.
 
The company topped Dell on the strength of PC unit shipments that climbed 16.6% year-over-year and 31% sequentially.
 
This caused the firm’s share of worldwide PC unit shipments to rise to 13.4%, up from 12% in the second quarter, and up from 11.6% in the third quarter of 2008.
 
Company shipments of notebook PCs rose 17% year-over-year and 28% sequentially.
 
Hewlett-Packard extended its unbroken run of No. 1 rankings to 13 quarters, with third-quarter shipments of 15.9 million units, up 7% year-over-year, giving it a market share of 20%.
 
iSuppli attributes Acer’s success to its continued aggressive pricing strategy, strong netbook shipments, and robust regional performances in the European and US markets.
 
PC shipments for fourth-ranked Lenovo rose 17.2% compared to the same period a year earlier, the largest increase among the Top-5 OEMs during the period.
 
The third quarter also marked two other significant milestones for the PC market: First, unit shipments rose on a year-over-year basis for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2008. Second, shipments increased at the highest sequential rate since iSuppli began tracking the market in 2003.
 
Worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter amounted to 79.9 million units, up 1.1% from the third quarter of 2008, and up 19% sequentially.
 
PC market conditions appear likely to remain strong in the fourth quarter. iSuppli has revised its 2009 PC unit shipment forecast to a slight 0.9% decline, compared to the previous forecast of a 4% decrease.
 
Third-ranked Dell saw shipments decline to 10.3 million units, down 5.9% from the same period last year. Dell’s share of worldwide PC unit shipments amounted to 12.9% during the quarter.