Dell steals Samsung's PC monitor crown

PC monitor market enjoys unexpected boost as Dell regains top spot after five years

Dell has finally knocked Samsung off its perch in the PC monitor market after five years, as the sector enjoyed a better quarter than expected in Q2.

In 2013's second quarter, IDC had forecast 31.9 million PC monitors would be shipped worldwide, but a 1.6 million-unit boost took the figure to 33.5 million. Despite the better-than-predicted results, the market still trailed last year's efforts by 0.7 per cent, according to the analyst's Worldwide Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker.

This time last year, Samsung led the market, shipping 5.6 million units and taking 15.5 per cent market share – ahead of second-placed Dell which only shipped five million PC monitors, taking 13.8 per cent market share.

But this year, a 0.9 per cent annual boost in sales at Dell and a 24.1 per cent crash in Samsung shipments caused the duo to swap places, with Dell regaining its crown as market leader for the first time since 2007.

"Dell grew its unit shipments by 12.7 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2013, which vaulted the company into the number-one position worldwide, said IDC analyst Jennifer Song. "However, Samsung continues to be the worldwide revenue leader, despite its declining shipment numbers."

Third-placed HP's shipments remained flat when compared to last year's Q2, but it remained market leader in western Europe and Canada. LG – which came in fourth place in terms of shipments – managed to creep up on HP's market share figure following a 16.6 per cent annual boost in units shipped, while a nine per cent year-on-year decline in shipments at Lenovo ate into its market share.

In Q3, IDC forecasts a 0.7 per cent sequential shipment boos to 33.8 million units, and also raised its total shipment forecast for the whole year to 134.7 million units, up from the previous estimate of 134.4 million.