From time to time, Acer executives will pound their chests and announce plans for the company to overtake Hewlett-Packard as the world’s top computer seller. The proclamations have historically elicited chuckles from the PC peanut gallery, which has viewed such a feat as rather unlikely. Acer, however, may start converting a few more believers as it continues to gain market share quarter after quarter. Gartner just released its second quarter PC shipment figures that showed Acer distancing itself from Dell and catching up to H.P. Acer took 13 percent of the PC market in the second quarter, up from 12 percent in the same period last year, on the back of 32 percent growth. H.P.’s market share, by contrast, slipped from 18.8 percent to 17.4 percent. H.P.’s growth rate was about a third of Acer’s at 12 percent. “H.P. maintained its worldwide lead in PC shipments, but its growth rate was below the industry average as the company tried to protect margins in key regions,” Gartner said in a statement. Dell managed a growth rate of 19 percent and held 12.4 percent of the market, down from 12.6 percent. Asustek, another up-and-comer from Taiwan like Acer, knocked Toshiba out of the top five worldwide PC sellers with 78.5 percent growth and 5.2 percent of the market, while China’s Lenovo grew at 47.2 percent and took 10 percent of the market. Overall, the PC market continued a strong rebound from the darkest days of the recession. Shipments rose 21 percent to 83 million computers. Intel executives have maintained for some time that the PC market will grow at healthy double-digit rates, particularly as developing countries buy more computers. Acer and Asus may just see their fortunes grow even more in such a scenario because they tend to play well in burgeoning markets. Acer, in particular, has also shown serious skills in selling through channel partners, which is the dominant method of moving PCs in many developing countries. That said, H.P. and Dell likely have good times ahead, as corporations have started a serious upgrade cycle, according to Intel. Earlier this week, Intel reported record sales and hailed the much awaited arrival of a serious corporate PC refresh. Historically, Dell has dominated the business PC market alongside H.P. and Lenovo. An American company has always been the world leader in PC sales.

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