Hewlett-Packard is continuing to dominate the worldwide PC marketplace at the expense of its main rival, Dell, according to an April 18 report by Gartner.

The report, similar to one released by IDC on April 18, showed that HP held its top spot in the worldwide PC market with 17.6 percent market share. In the first quarter of 2007, the Palo Alto, Calif., company shipped more than 11 million PCs, an increase of 28.7 percent compared to the same time last year.

HP's growth in the past year comes as Dell's market share has continued to fall. In the first quarter of this year, Dell still held the number two spot in the world with nearly 14 percent market share. However, the number of the PCs the Round Rock, Texas, company shipped fell 7.8 percent from 9.4 million in the first quarter of 2006 to 8.7 million this year.

In the U.S. market, Dell remained number one with nearly a 28 percent market share. HP was second with 25.7 percent. However, while HP's shipments increased 25.8 percent, Dell's dipped 15.5 percent.

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"HP was helped by the Vista operating system consumer launch in the mature regions and [the company] is benefiting from a strong position in the channel," wrote Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst for Gartner, based in Stamford, Conn. "The first quarter of 2007 was a transitional quarter for Dell as the company began a major restructuring project."

Click here to read the news from Dell's last financial statement.

In addition to trying to regain its footing in the marketplace and recast its image, Dell is struggling with its own internal financial problems, as well as a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Overall, Gartner found that the worldwide PC market grew 8.9 percent in the first quarter of 2007, compared to the same time last year. In the first quarter of this year, PC shipments totaled 62.7 million.

As it previously noted, Gartner found that the release of Microsoft's new OS had a minimal impact on PC sales. The IDC report showed that sales were helped along by sales of laptops and other portable PCs.

In the worldwide market, Acer had a breakthrough quarter. The Taiwan company was ranked third by Gartner and claimed 6.8 percent of the worldwide PC market. Its shipments increased about 46 percent from the first quarter of 2006.

Click here to read about Lenovo adopting Windows Live.

Lenovo ranked just below Acer in the worldwide market with 6.3 percent of the market. Its shipments increased more than 16 percent compared to last year. Toshiba ranked fifth with 4.1 percent of the market.

In the U.S. market, Dell and HP were followed by Gateway, which watched its shipments drop 6.3 percent in the first quarter. Its market share now stands at 7.7 percent.

Toshiba ranked fourth in the U.S. market. The company claimed 5.4 percent of the marketplace and its shipments increased nearly 27 percent compared to the same time last year.

Finally, Gartner found that Apple had the best quarter among the top five suppliers of PCs to the U.S. market. The company now claims 5 percent of the U.S. market and its shipments increased 30 percent in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the first quarter of 2006.

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