Notebook Computers outsold Desktop Computers

Notebook computers outsold desktop computers, for the first time in the history of PC industry during the third quarter of 2008. According to the computer industry tracking group iSuppli, worldwide PC shipment in the third quarter of 2008 grew 15.4 percent over the same period in 2007. Notebook PC shipments rose almost 40 percent for the third quarter compared with the same time period of 2007, to reach 38.6 million units. At the same time, sales of desktop computer units fell by 1.3 percent to 38.5 million units.

“The notebook PC is no longer a tool for the business market, or a computer for the well-off consumer, it’s now a computer for everyman,” Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms at iSuppli, noted in a statement.

With a market share of 18.8 percent, Hewlett-Packard led the market in the third quarter, shipping 14.9 million units. Dell stayed in second place with 13.9 percent, Acer in third with 12.2 percent, Lenovo fourth with 7.5 percent and Toshiba fifth at 4.6 percent. Acer was the top performer of the third quarter and the company shipped almost 3 million more notebooks in the third quarter than it did in the preceding quarter. On a sequential basis, the Taiwanese company grew its unit shipment market share by 45 percent, and by 79 percent on a year-over-year basis.

So, laptops are personal (popular) again!