Hewlett-Packard overtook Dell to become the world’s largest PC maker in the fourth quarter in a market that is both growing and growing more difficult.

PC shipments grew 12 percent to 15 percent in the fourth quarter in terms of units and around 11 percent for 2003 as a whole, according to, respectively, research firms Gartner and IDC, substantially more than predictions from a year ago. In 2004, shipments are expected to grow 10.9 percent worldwide according to Gartner and 11.4 percent according to IDC. (Both firms count notebooks, desktops and servers with x86 chips, but their methodologies slightly differ, accounting for the variation.)

Still, much of the growth can be attributed to price cuts, which are neutralizing growth in revenue. In 2000, 140.2 million PCs left factories and accounted for an estimated $226 billion in value, or revenue, in the market, said Roger Kay, an analyst with IDC. In 2003, a record 152.6 million PCs were shipped, but they carried an estimated value of $175 billion, a $51 billion decline. In fact, the 136.7 million PCs shipped in 2002 probably accounted for $175 billion in value, meaning that in dollar terms the past two years have been close to equal.

News source: C|Net News.com