Laptop sales overtake desktops for the first time Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font December 26, 2008 - 9:27AM
Global laptop computer shipments topped those of desktops for the first time ever on a quarterly basis in the third quarter of the year, according to market research firm iSuppli.
The research firm, in what it described as a "watershed event in the history of the industry", said laptop PC shipments rose nearly 40 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year to 38.6 million units.
It said desktop PC shipments declined 1.3 per cent compared with the same period to 38.5 million units.
"Momentum has been building in the laptop market for some time, so it's not a complete surprise that shipments have surpassed those of desktops," Matthew Wilkins, an iSuppli analyst, said in a statement.
"However, this marks a major event in the PC market because it marks the start of the age of the laptop," he said. "The laptop PC is no longer a tool only for the business market, or a computer for the well-off consumer; it's now a computer for everyman."
Wilkins said the PC market managed strong growth in the third quarter despite the global economic downturn.
Worldwide PC unit shipments rose 15.4 per cent over the third quarter of 2007 with 79 million units shipped, iSuppli said.
It said overall third-quarter PC shipments exceeded iSuppli's forecast of 12 per cent year-over-year growth for the third quarter.
iSuppli said Hewlett-Packard retained its top ranking position in the third quarter of 2008 with shipments of 14.9 million units and a market share of 18.8 per cent.
It said fellow US PC maker Dell was next with shipments of around 11 million units, a market share of 13.9 per cent, followed by Taiwan's Acer, with shipments of 9.7 million units and a market share of 12.2 per cent.
Lenovo and Toshiba were fourth and fifth, with market shares of 7.5 and 4.6 per cent respectively. Apple, with a market share of 3.2 per cent, was seventh overall in total PC shipments.
"The big news from iSuppli's market share data for the third quarter was undoubtedly the performance of Taiwan's Acer," Wilkins said.
"Acer shipped almost three million more laptops in the third quarter than it did in the preceding quarter with the majority of those three million being the company's Netbook products," he said.
iSuppli slightly increased its full year 2008 unit growth forecast from 12.5 per cent to 13.0 per cent and revised its 2009 outlook to call for PC unit growth of 4.3 pe rcent.
AFP
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