HP Retains Notebook Lead

Hewlett-Packard Co. retained its lead in the overall notebook market, according to final numbers published by IDC for the first quarter of 2003.

HP sold approximately 1.37 million notebooks during the first quarter, widening its lead over second-ranked Dell Computer, which sold about 1.24 million. The race between the two was much closer during the fourth quarter, when HP sold 1.29 million notebooks and Dell sold 1.28 million.

HP has succeeded in gaining share via the retail channel and building momentum in the business segments,” said Alan Promisel, mobile computing analyst for IDC. “In the consumer segment, HP has maintained its retail shelf space while pricing their notebooks quite aggressively. In the business segments, the continued progress of the companys integration efforts are helping HP regain the confidence of IT buyers, leading to an uptick in contract signings.”

Toshiba, Fujitsu and IBM rounded out the top five vendors. While Toshiba remained in third place with 1.23 million notebooks sold, IBM slipped to fifth with 638,000 unit sales, compared to Fujitsu-Siemens, which increased its notebook sales from 573,000 in the fourth quarter to an estimated 665,000 units during the first quarter.

NECs strong sales boosted it the farthest of all the members of the top ten, as sales of 482,000 units during the first quarter propelled the Asian PC maker from eighth place to the number six position. Acer, meanwhile, flipflopped: the companys sales fell from 491,000 units during the fourth quarter to 428,000, according to IDC, weighing down Acer to the eight position. Sony held steady by selling 447,000 notebook PCs, the same amount the company sold in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to IDC.

Apple and Gateway rounded out the top ten, with sales of 298,000 and 111,000 units, respectively, according to IDC.