Toshiba Grabs Bigger Pc Market Share

Toshiba Corp.’s skyrocketing sales of notebook computers lifted the company to the No. 5 spot among the world’s PC makers during the third quarter, according to a Dataquest Inc. study.

Toshiba’s shipments nearly doubled during the July-September quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Even so, Toshiba’s jump from the No. 8 spot a year ago was extraordinary because notebooks make up less than 20 percent of the overall personal computer market.

“It surprised all of us, even those who watch it every day,” said Bill Schaub, Dataquest’s director of worldwide tracking.

Toshiba is now attempting to gain a larger share of the desk top PC market as well, and has recently signed a contract with Spokanebased Key Tronic Corp. to provide keyboards for its desktops.

Compaq Computer Corp. continued to lead the industry, which grew 16.3 percent over last year’s third quarter, Dataquest said in a study released Monday. Worldwide shipments totaled 17.2 million during the quarter compared with 14.8 million a year ago.

That, along with PC manufacturers offering lower-priced machines than last year, means the industry is well on pace to grow a predicted 19.7 percent for the year, Schaub said.

“We’re expecting a really healthy fourth quarter,” he said.

Compaq had nearly 1.8 million shipments, a 19 percent increase over 1.49 million a year ago. Its market share rose to 10.3 percent from 10 percent.

Apple’s market share was down sharply from 8.7 percent as it saw shipments tumble nearly 28 percent from a year ago. Hewlett-Packard, No. 5 in the second quarter, didn’t make the list this time. The company may be slowing sales of low-end machines to protect its profits.

Toshiba, the leading notebook PC maker with nearly half the market, saw its shipments rise 94.6 percent in the third quarter, to 753,000 machines from 387,000.

Schaub said Toshiba has succeeded chiefly because it has hustled to produce notebooks with Intel Corp.’s latest chips and because it operates efficiently.