SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co widened its market share lead over Dell Inc in worldwide personal computer shipments in the third quarter, while Dell returned to growth after several quarters of declines, researcher IDC reported on Wednesday.

Total PC shipments grew 15.5 percent worldwide in the third quarter, IDC said.

HP shipped 19.6 percent of all personal computers in the period, a 33 percent leap from the year-earlier period, IDC said in its quarterly PC market-share survey. The gap between HP and Dell widened to 4.4 percentage points from 3.2 points in the second quarter.

Dell stayed in the No. 2 spot with an estimated 15.2 percent of the market, but its shipments grew 3.8 percent to 10.2 million units, reversing a streak of three consecutive quarters in which its shipments fell from year-earlier periods.

HP's growth, the second consecutive quarter in which its shipments advanced by more than 30 percent, was helped by strong sales through retailers and other distribution channels, and demand for its laptop PCs, according to IDC.

Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, had strong growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the Asia-Pacific region, while improvements in the United States and Japan were "less dramatic," IDC said.

Lenovo Group Ltd kept the No. 3 spot, with 8.2 percent of total shipments, representing 22.9 percent growth from a year earlier, IDC estimated.

Taiwan's Acer Inc held on to fourth place, with 8.1 percent of shipments and growth of 59.2 percent, helped by strong gains in its main markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Asia-Pacific area.

Japan's Toshiba Corp , with 4.4 percent of worldwide shipments, was in fifth place, growing 17.3 percent.

(Reporting by Philipp Gollner)
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.

Photo:
HP Pavilion HDX aka the Dragon Notebook.