The personal computer industry posted solid growth in first quarter 1998, with shipments increasing 14.1 per cent over the same quarter last year, according to survey results released this week. Dataquest, a research and consulting group, said shipments in the first three months of the year came to 21 million units, with Compaq, IBM and Hewlett-Packard recording the strongest performances. Earlier this month Dataquest predicted the PC market would expand 15.6 per cent in 1998.

"There are signs that Compaq's inventory is shrinking slightly, and Dell is positioned to take advantage of both the transition to Pentium II and customer movement to Windows 98," said Mr Scott Miller, a Dataquest senior analyst. We believe the secret to Hewlett-Packard's success lies in the company's supply chain management and its ability to execute."

The study found that the US market continued to grow more rapidly than the worldwide market, as PC shipments in the US expanded 16.2 per cent in the quarter to 7,800. The top five vendors and their market shares are Compaq (12.5 per cent), IBM (7.6 per cent), Dell (7.3 per cent), Hewlett-Packard (6.3 per cent), and Packard Bell-NEC (4.7 per cent).