Apple’s estimated shipments in the fourth quarter accounted for about 11 percent of all computers that entered the sales channel, securing its third-place position in the U.S.
Apple was the only top-five computer maker
to post shipment gains in the U.S. during the final quarter of 2011, a pair of
research firms said this week.
Both IDC and Gartner said Apple beat Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard
(HP) and Toshiba in the U.S. last quarter in the shipment-increase game.
According to IDC estimates, Apple shipped 2 million Macs in the
U.S. during the quarter ending Dec. 31, an increase of 18 percent over the same
quarter of 2010. Gartner’s number of 2.1 million was slightly higher, as was
its 21 percent year-over-year gain by Apple.
All other computer makers in the top five shipped fewer machines
in 2011 than they did the year before, IDC and Gartner said.
HP led the decline in both firms’ estimates, with its shipments
declining between 25.3 percent and 26.1 percent, while Acer’s numbers fell
between 11.4 percent and 14.4 percent from the year before.