HP may outpace Lenovo’s notebook PC shipping numbers by the end of the year, based on updated projections for the manufacturers’ respective first quarter results. According to DigiTimes‘ supply chain sources, HP has reportedly shipped approximately seven million laptops — one million higher than expected — in the first three months of 2014. Lenovo, the highest-shipping OEM in 2013, has reportedly shipped 6.6 million notebooks during the same period. If both companies continue at the same pace all the way through 2014, HP could end the year as the highest shipping laptop manufacturer.
Despite the higher-than-expected numbers, HP’s seven million units represents a nine percent drop from Q4 2013. On top of that, HP’s improved short term fortunes aside, market research analyst Gartner predicts that the “traditional” PC market will continue to shrink overall, with total shipments falling from 296.1 million units last year, to 276.7 million units this year.
The supply chain source says they believe HP may be able to ship more than the estimated 28 million notebooks that HP was initially expected to move. Meanwhile, projections predict that Lenovo ship 28.3 million notebooks by the end of 2014.
Either way, both Lenovo and HP seem to be in better shape than Acer, which has reportedly suffered a 15 percent sequential drop during the first quarter of 2014.
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