The worldwide personal computer market continued its steady growth with third quarter shipments in 1996 increasing 16.3 percent over the third quarter of last year, according to Dataquest.

The worldwide PC market is on track with Dataquest's latest forecast, which predicts the market will grow 19.7 percent in 1996. Compaq continues to lead the PC market with 10.3 percent market share. Toshiba had the strongest quarter among the top PC vendors growing 94.6 percent over the same period last year.

"Given that portable computers account for less than 20 percent of the PC market, it's astounding that Toshiba could capture the No. 5 spot in the worldwide PC market," said Kimball Brown, vice president and chief analyst of Dataquest's Computers and Peripherals program.

IBM continues to do well as it moved into the No. 2 position with 8.6 percent market share while growing 27.4 percent for the quarter (see Table 1). Apple continues to show negative growth ratesversus last year's shipment totals, but Apple did increase shipments over the second quarter of this year.

 
                          Table 1
        Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment 
              Estimates for Third Quarter of 1996
                   (Thousands of Units)
 
              Q3/95  Q3/95 Market      Q3/96 Q3/96 Market  Q3/95-Q3/96
Company   Shipments      Share(%)  Shipments    Share (%)   Growth (%)
 
Compaq        1,485         10.0       1,770         10.3        19.2 
IBM           1,170          7.9       1,490          8.6        27.4 
Apple         1,286          8.7         932          5.4       -27.5 
Nec             695          4.7         781          4.5        12.4        
Toshiba         387          2.6         753          4.4        94.6
Others        9,802         66.1      11,514         66.8        17.5
 
Total        14,825        100.0      17,240         100.0       16.3
 
Source:  Dataquest (October 1996)

The United States PC market grew 12.5 percent during the third quarter of this year, but it should be noted that the x86 segment of the U.S. PC market grew more than 20 percent.

Compaq led the U.S. PC market as shipments increased 33.4 percent over the same period last year. Apple and Packard Bell showed the largest decline among the top U.S. PC vendors with 37.6 and 26.2 percent declines, respectively (see Table 2). The combination of NEC, Packard Bell and Zenith Data Systems shipments would place them second in the U.S. market.

"It appears that IBM's consumer offerings are catching Packard Bell in their strongest market," said Bill Schaub, director of Dataquest's worldwide tracking programs. "Apple's recently announcedprice cuts could provide an upside to our forecast for the fourth quarter and the year."

                           Table 2
          Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment 
              Estimates for Third Quarter of 1996
                    (Thousands of Units)
 
              Q3/95  Q3/95 Market      Q3/96 Q3/96 Market  Q3/95-Q3/96
Company   Shipments      Share(%)  Shipments    Share (%)   Growth (%)
 
Compaq          727         12.2         970         14.4        33.4 
Ibm             493          8.8         612          9.1        24.1 
Packard Bell(a) 711         11.9         525          7.8       -26.2 
Apple           788         13.2         492          7.3       -37.6        
Dell            264          4.4         489          7.3        85.2
Others        2,996         50.1       3,637         54.1        21.4
 
Total         5,980        100.0       6,725        100.0        12.5

 
Note:  Percentages don't add to 100.0 in Q3/95 due to rounding.
(a) Packard Bell branded systems only
Source:  Dataquest (October 1996)

Dataquest's Worldwide Quarterly PC Statistics program surveys more than 30 PC makers. For more information about subscribing to this or any of Dataquest's other Computers and Peripherals research programs, please call 800/419-DATA. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports, and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at

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