PC market flat, as Surface becomes a top-5 computer brand in the US

Enlarge / Clockwise, from the top left: Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2, Surface Headphones, Surface Pro 6. (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft was the fifth-biggest PC maker in the US in the third quarter of this year, according to industry advisory firm Gartner.

The top spot in the US belongs to HP, with about 4.5 million machines sold, ahead of Dell at 3.8 million, Lenovo at 2.3 million, and Apple at 2 million. The gap between fourth and fifth is pretty big-Microsoft sold only 0.6 million Surface devices last quarter-but it suggests that Microsoft's PC division is heading in the right direction, with sales 1.9 percent higher than the same quarter last year. The company pushed down to sixth place was Acer.

The current quarter should be better still; the Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and Surface Studio have all been given hardware refreshes which, when combined with the always-busy holiday season, should stimulate higher sales.

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