Compaq's Lead in PC Market Slips During Q1.

Compaq Computer Corp's lead over its closest rivals is eroding, according to the latest figures from research firms Dataquest and International Data Corp. Adding some color to the shake-up  that led to chief executive Eckhard Pfeiffer's forced departure, newly-released first-quarter PC market information shows that Compaq's sales grew at only a fraction of the overall market during the three months. Meanwhile, rivals such as Dell Computer Corp and IBM Corp showed strong gains in a largely healthy market. While Compaq maintained the number one spot worldwide, its market share slipped to 13.4% from 14.3% in the year-ago quarter, according to Dataquest. Dell and IBM saw market share of 9.2% and 8.4%, respectively, up from 7.2% and 7.5% last year. Making matters worse, Compaq's growth in unit shipments for the quarter was only 9.9%, far below the 17.2% growth rate of the overall market. The company had initially blamed its poor first-quarter showing on a tough market overall, but solid first-quarter results from the likes of IBM and Gateway Inc have since pointed to internal problems for the number one vendor. Adding weight to that view, Dataquest said that Dell and IBM saw surging unit growth of 49.1% and 30.8%, respectively, while IDC has Dell's growth as high as 52% for the quarter. The results for the quarter are somewhat ironic, considering that in a letter to shareholders earlier this month, IBM CEO Louis Gerstner declared, ''The PC era is over.'' But Pfeiffer, before his departure, had argued to the contrary. Rounding out the top five vendors worldwide on Dataquest's list are Hewlett-Packard Co and Gateway (6.0% share and 4.3%), while IDC has HP and NEC/Packard Bell NEC as numbers four and five with 6.5% and 6.4% shares, respectively. HP saw its hold on fourth place weakened, however as it share actually slipped a bit year- over-year. Apple Computer Inc, meanwhile, saw worldwide market share at 3.4%, up from 3.1% a year ago, according to IDC. According to IDC, the overall market grew 19% to 24.5 million units, while Dataquest's 17.2% growth figure is based on an even 25 million units. In the US market, both research firms show Compaq, Dell, Gateway HP and IBM in the top five spots, with every vendor except for Compaq showing an increase in market share. IDC said the overall US market grew 24% to 9.9 million units, while Dataquest showed 20.8% growth to 9.7 million units. The difference in figures between the two firms reflect the fact that Dataquest excludes server sales, while IDC includes them in the total.