Apple Surges Past HP To Become The Top PC Maker

Apple overtook HP as the world’s leading PC vendor in Q4 2011 according to technology analyst firm Canalys. Having sold 15 million iPads and five million Macs, the Cupertino company helped push combined desktop, netbook, notebook and tablet sales up 16 per cent year-on-year. Excluding tablets, the PC market dropped by 0.4 per cent.

HP, now second globally, lost the greatest market share out of the top five of Apple, Dell, Lenovo and Acer. Aside from Apple, which gained six per cent year-on-year, only Lenovo increased its market share, which Canalys attribute to successful investment outside of its core markets, the acquisition of Medion in Germany, and the company’s effective use of Android for enterprise and consumer tablets.

A ‘pivotal year’ for tablets and ultrabooks

Tablets accounted for 22 per cent of PC shipments in the final quarter of 2011 with Canalys citing Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook reader as making major gains over the period. The two are now second and fifth respectively in worldwide tablet shipments, with Canalys anticipating a critical year ahead for manufacturers.

“This year will be a pivotal year for those vendors that were slow to launch pads,” said Canalys analyst Tim Coulling. “It is not just the product that they need to get right, business models are equally important – driving revenues from content delivery can help vendors reach lower price points in a market that is incredibly price sensitive.”

Ultrabooks, which many PC makers, including Acer, have thrown their weight behind, are also expected to endure a critical 2012, according to the research firm.

“We expect ultrabook volumes to see limited adoption through the first half of 2012, before finally gaining momentum later in the year as price points decline and Intel launches a new line of processors, and embarks on an aggressive marketing campaign,” said Michael Kauh, a research analyst at Canalys.

“In the short term, though, vendors will experience more pressure in the netbook and notebook segments, especially with Apple’s annual iPad refresh approaching.”