Tony Smith of The Register reports:
Fanboys, rejoice - Apple 'aters, gnash your teeth. The Mac maker is now once again the third largest computer maker in the US.
So claims market watcher Gartner, which has just posted its Q2 numbers. Dell and HP were the top two companies with market shares of 31.9 per cent and 25.3 per cent, respectively. Between them they accounted for more than half of personal computer sales in the US during the quarter.
Apple managed a more modest 8.5 per cent share, putting it just ahead of Acer, which took 8.1 per cent of the market. Toshiba rounds off the top five with a 5.5 per cent share.
Apple showed the best growth, its sales leaping 38.1 per cent year on year. Dell's share was up 11.9 per cent, Acer's down 20.8 per cent. The other key players expect small, single-figure increases.
Overall, the US PC market was up 4.2 per cent to 16.49m units. Apple shipped 1.40m of them.
Internationally, it remains less successful, failing to make even the top five - in order, HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba, with global Q2 shares of 18.1, 15.6, 9.4, 7.8 and 4.4 per cent, respectively.
Some 71.86m PCs shipped worldwide in Q2.
