After playing second-fiddle to Acer since the end of last year, Dell has once again reclaimed the title of the second largest PC-manufacturer on the planet.
According to the latest market-research from iSuppli, overall PC shipments increased this quarter to more than 82 million. Of these, HP took the biggest piece of the pie, holding over 18 per cent of the global market. Dell was second by quite a margin, accounting for 12.8 per cent of sales, while Acer nipped at its heels with 12.4 per cent.
However, despite the market growing since the first quarter, each of the top-three manufacturers saw a decline in their sales. In fact, the only real winner out of the top five was Lenovo, who managed to gain more than 1.5 per cent of the global market, which translates to an 18 per cent growth in its PC business.
Acer was particularly badly hit, with sales decreasing by 6.2 per cent compared to the start of the year. The firm put this down to a global decline in notebook sales, which account for more than three quarters of the company's business. However, its year-on-year growth is still over 24 per cent.
Dell's place as the number-two manufacturer looks far from stable. With laptop shipments likely to improve throughout the third quarter due to the back-to-school season, the companies could easily switch places again. Lenovo could also pose a threat if it continues to grow rapidly, having already increased sales by 50 per cent since last year.
The only certainty is that the battle between the top manufacturers will continue to rage on.
