Worldwide large computer shipments up slightly in Q2

NEW YORK: Shipments of large,

powerful computers rose less than a half percent in the Q2 from a year earlier

amid weak corporate demand but were helped by the second quarter of growth in

the U.S., Dataquest said on Monday. Dataquest, a unit of Gartner Inc., said that

U.S. shipments rose 9.9 percent but that speculation that technology demand has

turned around is premature, as there are no signs of consistent revenue growth

yet.

Hewlett-Packard Co. rose to the No. 1 computer server maker spot after buying competitor Compaq Computer in May, but the combined company's market share was down 9 percent from a year earlier. HP had 30.5 percent of the market, down from 33.8 percent a year earlier.

Dell Computer Corp., which ranks No. 2, picked up 2 percentage points of market share to account for 18 percent of the market, while International Business Machines Corp.'s share slipped to 14.5 percent from 15 percent. Sun Microsystems Inc.'s share rose to 6.5 percent from 5.9 percent.

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