More Laptops Shipped Than PCs in Q3

Global laptop shipments surpassed desktops in the third quarter, marking the first time mobile PCs have led the market, a research firm said Tuesday.

Laptop shipments rose by nearly 40% in the quarter compared with the same period last year to reach 38.6 million units, according to iSuppli Corp. Desktop shipments, on the other hand, dropped by 1.3% to 38.5 million units.

The watershed event was expected, given that laptop shipments have been increasing by double digits for some time, while desktops have been in the low single digits.

"However, this marks a major event in the PC market because it marks the start of the age of the notebook," iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins said in a statement. "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."

While the scale of the global economic downturn became apparent in the third quarter, the impact had yet to be felt in the worldwide PC market, which saw an overall increase of 15.4% to 79 million units. ISuppli had predicted a 12% growth rate.There was no change in the rankings of the top five PC makers in terms of shipments. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) led the market with an 18.8% share, followed by Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL), 13.9%; Acer Inc. , 12.2%; Lenovo Group Ltd. , 7.5%; and Toshiba Corp.