Mac PC Sales Trumped by HP
First quarter data on PC sales in the U.S. showed Hewlett-Packard came in first place, with a total gain of nearly 7% over last year’s first quarter. Tech research firms Gartner and IDC recently released a report showing the surprising gain.
Though HP takes the title of world’s largest PC manufacturer by a considerable margin, Apple’s stronghold on the market has been tough to shake. Apple’s PC sales in the U.S. have bested HP since late 2009.
Former HP CEO Leo Apotheker considered cutting PC manufacturing altogether in an effort to whittle down the company’s product line. The resolution of long-standing “internal management issues,” as cited by Gartner, directly supported HP’s successful quarter, as current CEO Meg Whitman made the decision late last year to continue manufacturing PCs.
Mac Malware Flashback Trojan Infects Half a Million Computers
A second contributing factor listed by the firms detailed the effects of last year’s floods in Thailand. Following the natural disaster, in the last few quarters leading up to the beginning of 2012, many PC manufacturers had a hard time obtaining hard drives. While HP was among those affected by the shortage, they were more successful than competitors in securing the essential hardware.
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The good news for HP comes amidst negative press surrounding the seemingly-untouchable electronics giant. Dodging attacks from concerned customers, Apple recently admitted its computers do indeed suffer from a malware problem. Though a fix is reportedly in the works, experts have voiced skepticism over whether the announcement is simply a reaction, intending to quiet dissenters, or if the company is getting serious about offering malware protection to users, something they believe is long overdue.
