Apple Gains: 4.5% of US Market


Research firm IDC notes Apple has increased both its unit shipments and US market share in the second quarter of 2005, ZDNet reports.

Apple's shipments grew 37% on the year-ago quarter, well above industry growth in shipments worldwide of 16.6%, according to IDC, although Gartner's figures are less optimistic, coming in at 14.8%. Even 'beleaguered' Gateway increased shipments by over 26%. Dell, the # 1 seller, grew at over 23%.

Apple's US market share now stands at 4.5%, significantly up from 3.7% at the same time last year. Apple is currently # 4 PC vendor in the US, behind Gateway, HP and Dell.

Other trends to watch: Lenovo fell, while HP failed to catch Dell. Dell also saw impressive - 50% - growth in Asia.

Overall, US PC shipments grew 11.7%, reflecting generally strong worldwide demand of around 46 million PC units. Analysts argue that the desktop-replacement-by-notebook cycle persists.

Analysis: And iPod and iTMS are clearly driving Apple's Mac unit growth. And has the Intel announcement slowed sales? Not yet.