iSuppli: PC Shipments Rise at a Record Rate

Posted 06/07/2010 at 11:44am | by Paul Lilly

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Steve Jobs can say what he wants about tablets replacing PCs in the same manner that urban automobiles have replaced farm trucks in the past few decades (his comparison, not ours), the fact of the matter is the PC market is doing just fine, according to market research firm iSuppli. More than just fine, first quarter PC shipments skyrocketed by nearly 23 percent over the same period from last year, representing the highest annual surge iSuppli has ever recorded since it began keeping tabs on the market in 2003.

"Early 2009 represented one of the weakest periods in the history of the PC market, as consumer and corporate demand plunged due to the economic downturn," Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms at iSuppli, said in a statement. "With economic conditions improving, PC sales rebounded in early 2010."

PC makers shipped some 81.5 million units during the first quarter, driven in large part by high demand in Asian markets, iSuppli said. During the same period in 2009, shipments sank to just 66.5 million units.

While Hewlett Packard (HP) remains the market leader with a 19.6 percent share, Asus by far benefited the most from the increased demand, noting a whopping 136.2 percent year-over-year growth rate. The next closest was Lenovo, which noted a 58.5 percent growth rate, followed by Acer with 47.1 percent.