The Mobile PC Market Rebounds
Analyst firm Gartner Inc. reviews Q1 2010 mobile PC shipments, and likes what it sees. Time for channel pros to evaluate their clients’ laptops…
By Cecilia Galvinalvin
There’s a lot to be said for refresh cycles, especially as they pertain to mobile PCs. According to analyst firm Gartner Inc., worldwide mobile PC shipments totaled 49.4 million units in the first quarter of 2010, a 43.4 percent increase from the first quarter of 2009. This year-over-year growth is the highest the mobile PC market has experienced in eight years.
Gains came primarily from the consumer market, but the professional segment saw growth as well, with additional growth in the business sector expected toward the end of 2010 and into 2011 as part of a larger refresh cycle, says Gartner.
HP is still the top PC maker in worldwide mobile PC shipments, with 19.2 percent of shipments in the first quarter of 2010. HP and Dell, however, were the only vendors in the top five to grow below the industry average. ASUS and Acer saw the strongest growth among the top-tier vendors with shipment increases of 113 percent and 48.4 percent, respectively, which Gartner says was driven by sales in the low-end consumer market.
