Hewlett Packard on top in PC sales

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Hewlett Packard has pipped Compaq to be number one for first-quarter personal computer sales.

Market research company IDC says a post-Y2K slump in corporate sales helped Hewlett Packard to capture 17.2 per cent of the market, which amounted to 76,000 PCs across all categories.

Research analyst Mark Cribbens would not divulge Compaq's market share, but he said: "Compaq were close enough. Hewlett Packard are not out in front by miles."

Mr Cribbens said the corporate market had been very soft in the first quarter.

"Hewlett Packard by their very diverse offering performed well in the small business market and have also been strong in the home market."

Mr Cribbens said Compaq "struggled with their large corporates," which had replaced many PCs in the first half of last year in preparation for the year 2000 problem.

Hewlett Packard had meanwhile exploited a delayed Christmas rush in the home market.

The server market, which Compaq dominates, was especially weak and declined by 2.3 per cent from the first quarter last year to 1636 units.

Hewlett Packard has been the market leader in the home desktop segment for over two years, accounting for 31 per cent of consumer computer sales.

But Compaq's corporate strength gave it an overall lead last year.

However, Compaq's lead has declined each quarter since the second quarter of last year, when it achieved a 21.2 per cent share.

Compaq ended last year with 18 per cent of the market.

Hewlett Packard has made a big jump in the first quarter of this year, having averaged 14.4 per cent of the market last year compared with Compaq's 19.8 per cent.

"We are very pleased," said Hewlett Packard managing director Barry Hastings

"The first quarter of 1998 was the last time we were overall number one."

He denied that the good result was a short-term anomaly due to a weak corporate market.

"I don't think it was a fluke at all. There is no doubt that the first quarter of 2000 was slower than expected but we grew our share of the commercial desktop market.

"We shipped 17.5 per cent more in terms of units shipped over the same quarter in 1999."

Mr Hastings was disappointed with the firm's effort in the mobile sector where "little business had been done."

"We are not a major player in notebooks but we will be bringing some exciting new products in that market, in the next couple of months."