A new report suggests that Chinese manufacturer Lenovo has overtaken U.S.-based Hewlett Packard as the world's top producer of personal computers.

Research firm Gartner said in a report Thursday that Lenovo's third quarter sales made up nearly 16 percent of the global market for PCs, edging out HP by two-tenths of a percent.

It is the first time that Lenovo, which is headquartered in Beijing, has overtaken HP, which has been the world's top maker of PCs for years.

But officials of the struggling Silicon Valley tech giant were quick to point out that a separate study by market research house IDC still ranked HP in the lead, though even it showed the gap was closing quickly.

Regardless, both companies' studies showed that global PC sales fell sharply in the third quarter, as consumers went for more portable technology such as tablets or smartphones.

Gartner said global PC shipments fell 8.3 percent to 87.5 million in the quarter, while IDC said the decline was 8.6 percent to 87.8 million. Both reports were based on estimates.