Worldwide Computer Sales Up

By Agence France-Presse Worldwide sales of computers rose 9.7% in third quarter 2004 compared with the figure for the same period last year, with Dell of the United States the sector leader with 16.8% of the market, according to Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn. Unit sales came to 46.9 million in the July-September period against 42.8 million in the second quarter and 42.7 million in the third quarter of 2003. But the gain was weaker than Gartner analysts had predicted because of a slowdown in U.S. sales, which increased 5% rather than an expected 8%. After Dell in the sales table, the leading computer manufacturers were Hewlett-Packard, with 15% of the market, IBM, 5.6%, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Siemens 3.6% and Toshiba, 3.4%. Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004