Apple regains top-three computer maker placing

Apple is once more among the top three personal computer makers in the US.

Sales figures from market watcher IDC put the company's Q3 2010 share of the market at 10.6 per cent, up from the 8.9 per cent Apple took in the same period in 2009.

Its share rose on a 24.1 per cent increase in unit shipments, from 1.61m to just under 2m.

Good news for Apple, but bad news for Acer, which the Mac maker knocked off the number three slot. Acer's share dropped to 10.3 per cent from 10.7 per cent a year ago.

That decline doesn't match Apple's rise, of course, and Acer's share of the market is close enough to Apple's for it to easily regain its former position. The upcoming November-December sales period will decide.

HP and Dell remained - surprise, surprise - the top two vendors with shares of 24.3 per cent and 23.1 per cent, respectively. HP was up a little, Dell down a bit.

It's been many a year since Apple had a market share of more than ten per cent, and it's clear the iPod, iPhone and iPad are having a pull-through effect, winning over customers who would otherwise have gone Windows.

Apple only ever showed this level of success in the States, and that hasn't changed. It failed to make the top six globally. Worldwide, HP led the league with a 17.6 per cent share, followed by Acer (13 per cent), Dell (12.4 per cent), Lenovo (10.3 per cent), Asus (5.3 per cent) and Toshiba (5.2 per cent). Apple contributed to the Others band, which rated a share of 36.2 per cent. ®