Second-quarter inventory problems led to a year-over-year shipment decline...

Second-quarter inventory problems led to a year-over-year shipment decline of 20 percent at Acer, which lost its number-three rank and was the only top five PC maker to post a sales decline for the period, according to IHS iSuppli. IHS called Acer’s drop to fourth place “a stunning reversal of fortune for a company that was the No. 2 PC brand in the world during a three-quarter period in 2009 and 2010.” Lenovo, meanwhile, swapped spots with Acer, moving into third place with shipments of 10.2 million PCs in Q2, up 23 percent from Q2 2010 and up 25 percent from first quarter of this year, IHS said. HP, which shipped 15.4 million PCs, up 2.8 percent, and Dell, shipping 11.1 million, up 3.9 percent, continued to hold the number one and two positions in the quarter, it said. Apple advanced 13.8 percent to 3.8 million, and Samsung posted the largest percentage gain of top ten PC makers at 31.3 percent, IHS said. Samsung unit shipments were 3.1 million, up from 2.4 million during Q2 2010, IHS said. Apple’s product appeal propelled the company despite the “weaker consumer demand environment,” said analyst Matthew Wilkins. Apple is now less than a percentage point from entering the top five PC makers, he said. Asus broke into the top five, overtaking Toshiba with shipments of 5.3 million units for Q2, a gain of 8.4 percent year-over-year and 4.6 percent from Q1 2010, it said. “Asus delivered strong growth in emerging markets” including Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific, Wilkins said. After pulling back sequentially and in Q2 2010, the global PC market rebounded in Q2 2011, growing 3.7 percent to 85.6 million shipments, IHS said. Strong demand was driven by IT departments refreshing hardware, it said.