U.S. PC Sales Beat Expectations In 2nd Quarter

New York— International Data Corp. and Gartner Dataquest reported PC shipments were better than expected for the U.S. and worldwide markets for the second quarter, with Dell retaining the top spot, according to both research firms.

IDC research indicated that U.S. sales rose 8.1 percent during the period, while Gartner Dataquest, which tracks shipments differently, put the increase at about 11 percent. Worldwide IDC saw a 7.6 percent increase and Gartner a 10 percent jump. Low single-digit growth had originally been anticipated.

IDC credited aggressive pricing in the United States and a surge in notebooks and general consumer sales for the increase in that region. Worldwide the relatively quick resolution of the SARS issue was a huge plus.

"It seems we dodged a bullet with SARS, and the market remains cautious, but growth in the U.S. and Europe is ahead of schedule and we're still expecting increased business spending and continued portable adoption," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. "There's a chance the results are driven by aggressive short term pricing, so I wouldn't throw caution to the wind, but these are very good results," Hewlett-Packard was the second largest shipper in the United States, followed by IBM, Gateway and Apple, in that order, according to the research firms.