Dell Takes Top Spot in PC Sales

SAN JOSE —  Dell Computer Corp. became the worldwide market leader in PC sales, but the entire industry experienced a decline in U.S. sales for the first time, according to an industry report released Thursday.

Dell, already the market leader in the United States with a 23% share, surpassed Compaq Computer Corp. for worldwide PC market leadership in the first quarter, according to research firm Gartner Dataquest of Stamford, Conn.

Dell had a 12.8% share worldwide in the quarter, compared with Compaq’s 12.1%. Rounding out the top five: Hewlett-Packard Co. with a 7.3% share, IBM Corp. with 6.2% and NEC Corp. with 4.5%.

But the first quarter proved to be a tough one for the industry, leading to a 3.5% decline in U.S. sales to 11 million units from 11.4 million a year ago. HP, with a large part of its revenue tied to the U.S., was hardest hit as sales dropped 25%.

Dell’s aggressive pricing strategy and “efficient supply chain” helped it beat the competition, said Todd Kort, principal analyst at Gartner Dataquest.

Dell’s worldwide sales rose 34.3% to 4.2 million units. Compaq’s sales rose 0.3% to 3.9 million. Hewlett-Packard’s sales fell 3.5%, and NEC’s fell 0.5%. IBM’s sales grew by 7%.