Mobile majority
Worldwide PC shipments in Q1 2008 maintained the long term growth trend in spite of turbulent economic conditions according to market researcher iSuppli.
Total shipments amounted to 69.9 million units, which was a 12.1 percent increase on Q1 2007 and in keeping with the average year-on-year growth shown over the past five years.
“The first quarter
of 2008 was better than hoped for, due to continued strong demand growth for
mobile PCs,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for computer platforms
research at iSuppli. “However, the financial markets are still adjusting to the
effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States, as are the
consumers and businesses who have had their financial positions impacted.”
The top brands continued to out-pace the rest of the market, bit the big five
of HP, Dell Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba remaining in place. Of those, all but Acer
posted over 20 percent unit growth. The rest of the market only managed 4.1
percent growth.
“Hewlett-Packard’s continues to outgrow the overall PC market and the competition due to a number of factors, including its strong channel presence and its success in capitalizing on the strength in the notebook segment,” Wilkins said.
The better than expected results have led iSuppli to offer a healthy outlook for the rest of the year. “We now forecast global PC unit shipment growth in the range of 10 to 11 percent this year,” said Wilkins, “Exciting new developments in the area of low-cost PCs will help stimulate PC demand, along with bringing them to a wider audience.”
