The race for the No. 2 spot among PC vendors may be to close to call, with analyst firms disagreeing over whether or not Dell lagged behind rival Acer during the second quarter.
On Wednesday, IDC reported that Dell retook the second spot from Acer during the second quarter. But Gartner disagreed, saying Acer maintained its lead over Dell. Both firms reported that the Taiwanese PC vendor overtook Dell during the third quarter of 2009.
Gartner reported that Acer shipped nearly 10.8 million desktops and laptops during the second quarter of 2010, compared to Dell shipments of 10.3 million units. Those numbers gave the companies a 13 percent and 12.4 percent share of the market, respectively. Hewlett-Packard was the top seller, shipping almost 14.5 million desktops and laptops during the period, Gartner said.
IDC's estimates were close. The analyst firm said Dell shipped 10.6 million units during the second quarter of 2010, compared to 10.2 million units for Acer. IDC gave Dell a 13 percent share of the market, with Acer claiming 12.6 percent.
Like Gartner, IDC said HP shipped more PCs than anyone else, with shipments of almost 14.8 million units.
Although Dell's shipments didn't top Acer by Gartner's count, the firm said the Round Rock, Texas, PC maker's sales were rising in tandem with an uptick in commercial demand for PCs.
"Uptake in the professional PC market secured Dell's PC business, but the consumer market was still a challenge for the company," Gartner said.