NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hewlett-Packard reclaimed the top position in the global PC market in the third quarter, edging out rival Dell, a research firm said Wednesday.

HP's (Charts) market share rose to 16.3 percent, versus Dell's 16.1 percent during the quarter.

HP's year-over-year global shipments soared 15.4 percent. By comparison, Dell (Charts) posted a year-over-year gain of 3.6 percent during the third quarter.

The last time HP held the No. 1 spot was in the fourth quarter of 2003, according to Gartner.

"HP continues to take better advantage of the faster growth segments such as the consumer market. The company's share trajectory reflects its improvements in operational execution and changes in marketing," Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa said in statement.

Overall, worldwide PC shipments rose 7 percent to 59.1 million units during the quarter. In the U.S., however, shipments sank by 2 percent, marking the first decline in the market since the second quarter of 2002.

Dell still leads the U.S. market, with 32.1 percent of the market, followed by HP, Gateway (Charts) and Apple (Charts).

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