Chinese PC maker Lenovo ranked first for the first time in the global PC market in the third quarter of this year. Lenovo took up a 15.7 percent share of the market to take the top spot, edging out Hewlett-Packard with 15.5 percent, U.S. market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday (local time).

Lenovo sold 13.77 million PCs, while HP sold 13.55 million units. According to Gartner, Lenovo became the No. 1 PC maker as a result of its aggressive pricing strategy.

The global PC market shrank 8.3 percent in the third quarter from the same period last year. Experts say the reason is that the recession is worsening, and that many consumers are delaying purchasing a PC as Microsoft’s new OS Windows 8 is about to be launched.

Another market researcher IDC reported that Lenovo ranked second in the third quarter, trailing HP by a narrow margin. According to IDC's data, Lenovo's global PC share stood at 15.7 percent, lower than HP's 15.9 percent. The two are expected to switch places in the fourth quarter as Lenovo's market share keeps growing.