By Philipp Gollner
SAN FRANCISCO - Shares of Dell Inc., the world's biggest personal computer maker, fell more than 2 per cent on Thursday after a survey showed the company's worldwide market share slipped for perhaps the first time.
Dell stock was down 61 cents, or 2.1 per cent, at $28 in early afternoon trade on Nasdaq. It was the fifth-worst performer on the 35-member Morgan Stanley Technology index, which was little changed.
Dell of Round Rock, Texas, had 18.1 per cent of the worldwide PC market in the first quarter compared with 18.6 percent a year earlier, market researcher IDC reported on Wednesday in its quarterly PC market survey.
Rival ,Hewlett-Packard Co., the No. 2 PC maker, boosted its share to 16.4 per cent from 15.1 percent. HP shares added 2.6 per cent in New York Stock Exchange trading.
PC makers shipped a total of 53.2 million units in the first quarter, a 12.9 per cent growth rate. Dell's shipments increased 10.2 per cent, the first time in seven years that Dell grew below the market rate, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Richard Farmer wrote in an investor note.
HP shipped 8.7 million PCs, a 22 per cent increase.
In the United States, Dell's market share fell to 32.3 per cent from 33.9 per cent a year earlier. Dell's U.S. PC shipments grew only 0.3 per cent in the first quarter.
"The U.S. share loss is consistent with our view the company is losing share in its established markets, which we consider an ominous trend," wrote Cindy Shaw, an analyst at Moors & Cabot Capital Markets who has a "hold" rating on Dell stock, in a research note.
Shaw said it was perhaps the first time that the company lost PC unit market share.
Dell has said it plans to expand aggressively in emerging markets including China, India, Eastern Europe and Russia as growth in its home market slows.
The company remained the top personal computer maker worldwide and in the United States in the first quarter despite the market share declines. International markets surged to over 48 per cent of Dell's total shipments from 43 per cent in 2005, according to IDC.