Dell ousts Compaq from PC top spot

Dell Computer Corporation has overtaken Compaq Computers as the UK’s biggest PC seller, its second quarter results reveal.

The results show Dell leads the PC sector, with Compaq in second place, followed by IBM, Packard Bell/NEC and Hewlett-Packard.

Martyn Lambert, Dell’s marketing director for UK and Ireland, who took up the post in May, says: “We have observed the gap closing each quarter, and now we have overtaken.”

Lambert says Dell’s new position is due in part to its success at selling PCs on the Internet.

Dell’s unit share of total PC sales in the second quarter was 18.7 per cent, compared with 15.8 per cent for the same period last year. This compares with Compaq’s 15.5 per cent unit share, against 18.7 per cent in the second quarter of 1998 .