Lenovo gained from strong growth in Asia and market expansion across the Americas and Europe, IDC said. Lenovo's PC shipments grew by a whopping 43.7 percent compared with the first quarter of last year, while Dell's shipments fell by 2.1 percent year over year after shipment declines in key markets.

Lenovo's shipments were 11.7 million units, giving it a 13.4 percent market share in the first quarter this year. The company is fast approaching Hewlett-Packard, whose shipments totaled 15.7 million units, growing by 3.2 percent year over year. HP had 18 percent of the market during the quarter. Dell was in third place with 10.1 million units shipped and an 11.6 percent market share.

Lenovo has been progressively gaining ground after a strong second half last year, and the company has made gains in China and other markets in Asia, said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC. HP has regained some momentum after it lost credibility and goodwill with the failed plan to sell or spin off its PC unit.

While HP has recovered somewhat, there is still a lot of work for the company to do if it wants to fend off Lenovo from taking over its spot as the world's top PC maker.

"HP is arguably stronger on the commercial side. That's going to be important as the economy improves and companies spend more," Chou said.