Over recent months weive heard different numbers concerning Appleis consumer PC market share; the numbers vary widely from less than 2% to well over 5%. IDC, an IT data analysis company, has released its quarterly report on how consumer computer makers did in selling their wares last year. We donit always agree with IDCis analysis when it comes to Apple, especially that of Roger Kay, who is quoted in the release from IDC, but the numbers IDC released for the December quarter will get attention from the mainstream world.

Many will be surprised to find that Dell is no longer King of the Hill when it comes to PC shipments worldwide, at least for the last quarter of 2002. That title belongs to HP, who had been swapping the position with Dell during the previous 3 quarters. Dell maintains the title of #1 PC vendor in the US.

According to IDC, the number of computers Apple shipped in the 4th quarter of 2002 in the US was 385,000, keeping the company as the #5 US vendor in terms of volume. That number also qualifies Apple as having 3% of the total units shipped for that quarter in the US, which is a gain of 0.1% over the same time last year. In the December quarter of 2001, IDC says Apple shipped some 356,000 units in the domestic market.

If IDCis numbers are correct, this would mark Appleis first market share growth in some time, though it is but a tenth of a percentage point. Gateway and HP lost US market share, while IBM and Dell joined Apple in the ranks of those gaining US market share.

For the year, Apple was the 5th largest computer maker in the US, behind Dell, HP, Gateway, and IBM. Appleis total shipments were 3.5% of the total US market, down a tenth of a percentage point from last year. Apple didnit place in the Top 5 in terms of worldwide shipments.

The IDC report also includes comments from Roger Kay on some of Appleis accomplishments. From the IDC report:

Apple -- Grew shipments year-on-year, but lost ground sequentially. Inventory reductions and new products set the stage for faster growth in 2003. Appleis strongest performance was in retail, where the company has been aggressively courting Windows users.

Check out the full report at IDC.com.