Lenovo ousts Dell as PC number two

Chinese vendor stresses it is fully committed to PC market as it closes in on market leader HP

Lenovo has taken a thinly veiled sideswipe at market leader HP after Gartner figures confirmed it is now the world's second-largest PC maker.

Against a flat market, the China-based vendor grew PC shipments by a whopping 25.2 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2011.

This was enough to oust Dell from second spot behind only HP, which enjoyed a solid quarter despite its recent announcement that it may spin off its PC division.

HP shipped 16.23 million units globally during the quarter (growing ahead of the market), compared with Lenovo's 12.35 million. Dell (10.68 million), Acer (9.69 million) and Asus (5.69 million) rounded out the top five.

Lenovo chief executive Yuanqing Yang couldn't resist taking a potshot at HP as he stressed that Lenovo is fully committed to the market.

"This is the highest rank Lenovo has achieved in worldwide PC sales and, given the current competitive environment, positions the company as a strong challenger to ultimately become the global market leader," he said.

"We are growing in the enterprise and the consumer space – and our customers know we are fully committed to the PC market for the long term. At the same time, we will continue to invest in innovative products that will help drive the convergence of technologies and services across all four screens – smartphones, tablets, PCs and smart TV."

Gartner attributed Lenovo's surge to its joint venture with NEC in Japan and its "aggressive marketing" to both the professional and consumer PC markets.

Total worldwide shipments grew 3.2 per cent in Q3, lower than Gartner's earlier projection of 5.1 per cent growth as the western European market continued to underperform.