Netbooks help Samsung edge out Apple, Sony in mobile PC ranking
Thanks to its netbook products, Samsung in Q1 "dramatically outperformed the mobile computer market," with a 14.6% increase in mobile PCs shipped, according to iSuppli.
By Suzanne Deffree, Managing editor, news -- EDN, July 9, 2010
Netbooks are known for being small but they are having a big impact on mobile PC makers' rankings, according to a recent report from iSuppli Corp.Thanks to its netbook products, Samsung Electronics Co in Q1 "dramatically outperformed the mobile computer market," allowing it to climb to seventh place in the notebook PC business, up from ninth in Q4 2009, the market research company's data showed. In doing so, the company edged out Apple Inc and Sony Corp from the seventh and eight spots they respectively held in Q4. (See iSuppli data for the top five mobile PC makers below.)
Samsung shipped 1.9 million mobile PCs in Q1, up 14.6% from 1.7 million in Q4. ISuppli noted that Samsung's gain contrasted dramatically with the 5.4% sequential decline experienced in the overall notebook market, due to seasonality. According to iSuppli, the company in Q1 held a 3.9% share of global notebook PC shipments, up from 3.2% in Q4.
"About 50% of Samsung's mobile PC shipments in the first quarter were netbooks," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms for iSuppli, in a statement. "Samsung's netbooks are enjoying strong sales to European telecommunications operators, as European consumers in the first quarter continued to snap up netbook PCs bundled with mobile broadband contracts."
Samsung also now is selling mobile PCs in the United States, opening up a huge new market opportunity for the South Korean electronics giant, Wilkins noted.
Samsung posted the second-best sequential shipment performance among the Top 10 notebook PC makers in Q1, only behind Fujitsu Ltd, which had the biggest quarterly increase at 17.6% but placed 10th overall in the rankings, iSuppli said.
Looking at the company's notebook shipments on a year-over-year basis, iSuppli noted that shipments nearly doubled from 985,000 in Q1 2009, up by 95.5%. Meanwhile, total global mobile PC shipments rose by 42.4% in Q1 compared to a year earlier, the company's data showed.
"Corporate and consumer demand for notebook PCs remains strong, as user preferences continue to shift away from desktops and toward mobile computers," Wilkins said. "Notebook shipments in the first quarter hit their second-highest quarterly level since iSuppli began tracking the market."
ISuppli noted that Q1's near-record-setting growth presages what is expected to be a strong 2010 for the notebook PC market. The company in Q2 raised its 2010 forecast of notebook PC unit shipment growth to 29.8%, up from its Q1 outlook of a 25.5% expansion for the year.
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Preliminary top 5
Q1 2010 notebook PC market share rankings (ranking by percentage of unit shipments) |
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|
Ranking |
Company |
Q1
2010 market share |
Q4
2009 market share |
Market share change |
|
1 |
Hewlett-Packard |
18.9% |
20.3% |
-1.3% |
|
2 |
Acer |
17.5% |
19.0% |
-1.6% |
|
3 |
Dell |
11.5% |
11.6% |
-0.1% |
|
4 |
Toshiba |
9.3% |
9.0% |
0.3% |
|
5 |
ASUS |
8.3% |
8.7% |
-0.3% |
|
|
Others |
34.4% |
31.5% |
3.0% |
|
|
Total Shipments |
100.0% |
100.0% |
|
|
Source: iSuppli Corp, July 2010 |
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