Laptops Leap Ahead Of Desktops

During the third quarter of this year, shipments of laptops exceeded those of desktop PCs for the first time.

Market research company iSuppli noted a major turning point in the computer business, the time when the shipment of laptops exceeded those of desktop PCs for the first time. It’s happened during the third quarter of this year, and laptops enjoyed a spectacular increase, with shipments rising by 40% over the same quarter 2007, while those for desktops dropped by 1.3%, according to Information Week.

Although the news was expected, at least in part, in a statement iSuppli said:

"However, this marks a major event in the PC market because it marks the start of the age of the notebook. The notebook 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."

The top five PC makers remained the same as for the second quarter, with Hewlett-Packard in the lead with an 18.8% market share, followed by Dell (13.9%), Acer (12.2%), Lenovo (7.5%), and Toshiba with 4.6%.

Acer in particular had a good quarter, with shipments up 79% year on year, with three million more laptops – most of them netbooks – than in the second quarter.