NEW YORK - With three weeks remaining in 1993, International Business Machines Corp. is set to reclaim the title of top seller of personal computers in the United States, according to a report released today.

Preliminary year-end figures from research firm International Data Corp. also show a dramatic surge in sales this year by the biggest PC makers.

The 10 largest companies will account for 9.5 million of the 14.8 million PCs sold in the United States this year - or about 64 percent of the market, compared with 52 percent a year ago.

"That is a big, big change," said Richard Zwetchkenbaum, chief of PC market research at IDC. "A brand name has become important for a number of reasons. These vendors have more marketing muscle, more R&D capability, the ability to have multiple brands and an array of distribution channels."

This year, IBM should edge out Apple Computer Inc. by 25,000 units in the United States, which represents 40 percent of world market. Last year, Apple bested IBM, which was shifting its business structure and product line.

IBM's U.S. sales rose 51 percent to 2.08 million units from 1.37 million in 1992, IDC said. Worldwide sales, in which IBM perennially outdistances its rivals, climbed 37 percent to 4.4 million units from 3.2 million a year ago.

Apple showed 32 percent growth in the United States, at 2.05 million units compared with 1.55 million a year ago. Its worldwide sales were 3.6 million, up 30 percent from 2.8 million in 1992, IDC said.

Compaq posted the biggest growth this year, more than doubling U.S. sales to 1.4 million units from nearly 676,000 in 1992. Worldwide sales were up 96 percent to 3.05 million units from 1.56 million a year ago.

Packard Bell remained No. 4, followed by Dell Computer Corp., Gateway 2000 Inc., AST Research Inc., Tandy Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Zenith Data Systems Inc., which rose to No. 10 from No. 16.

Zwetchkenbaum said the figures underestimate AST's importance, since Tandy's sales are recorded separately despite AST's purchase of Tandy's PC operations last summer.

The ranks of personal computer firms began shrinking in the summer of 1992, when Compaq Computer Corp. started a price war that largely erased the differences between name brands and offerings from hundreds of smaller firms.

Customers turned in droves to well-known names on the premise that they always will be around to provide service and support.

While such growth is important, it does not necessarily translate into higher profits. Margins on personal computers continued to be thin. But price cutting slowed this year, leading to more stable performance for most companies, Zwetchkenbaum noted.

IDC's projection of 14.8 million units shipped in the United States would mean a 26 percent increase from 11.8 million units in 1992. The research firm projects worldwide shipments of 36.1 million units, up 19 percent from 30.4 million in 1992.

U.S. market growth is expected to slow to 10 percent next year, partly because fewer major advances in technology are expected, Zwetchkenbaum said.

IDC's top 10 list for worldwide sales includes NEC Corp., which sells half the computers in Japan, as the No. 4 company behind IBM, Apple and Compaq.