Apple rises in ANZ PC rankings

Apple has climbed over Acer and Dell to claim the second-largest share of the ANZ PC market, albeit by a slim margin, figures from industry analysts IDC show.

HP still held the number one spot, at 22% compared with 24% in the previous quarter. Apple picked up 15% (compared with 13%), Acer 14% (15%) and Dell 13% (14%). Toshiba was fifth with 9% (10%).

IDC says retail store expansions and the refreshing of the MacBook Air to include Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors are responsible for Apple’s improvement.

HP’s dip, in contrast, was caused by delays in government projects and ‘the unfortunate PSG spin-off debacle’.

IDC predicts that the market will grow quarter-on-quarter due to year-end sales, but will shrink after that as the hard disk drive shortage begins affecting inventories.

"The effect of tightening HDD supply will cascade down to end users as vendors limit promotions and shift focus to premium products to balance out profit margins,’ says IDC market analyst, Amy Cheah.

"Consumers who are generally more price sensitive will feel more of the pinch when the higher cost of HDD is passed on to end users. Industry leaders with the economies of scale advantage and flexibility to manage allocation may see competitive opportunities arise out of this situation.”