Although you probably wouldn’t usually call it a PC, the iPad is a personal computer. And it’s currently dominating the PC market. During the fourth quarter of 2012, every one in six PCs sold was an iPad, according to research firm Canalys. When you include the Mac as well, more than a third of worldwide PC shipments during the holiday quarter were from Apple.
With tablets included, worldwide PC shipments increased 12% year-on-year in Q4 2012, reaching 134 million units, according to the report. A third of those units — 27 million in total — came from Apple, with 22.9 million iPads and 4.1 million Mac sold.
Hewlett-Packard claimed the second-largest share of the market with 15 million PCs shipped, narrowly beating Lenovo by 200,000 units. Both vendors took an 11% share. Samsung enjoyed its first quarter in the top five thanks to strong sales of its owns slates. The Korean company shipped 11.7 million units to earn a 9% share, placing it just above Dell, which sold 9.7 million units.
Apple’s growth in the “pad” segment is attributed to the iPad mini, which made up more than half of Apple’s shipments. Its compact design and attractive price point led to its “significant cannibalization in the iPad range and wider PC market,” Canalys said.
“Apple timed the launch of the iPad mini well,” said Pin-Chen Tang, Canalys Research Analyst. “Its success proves there is a clear demand for pads with smaller screens at a more affordable price. Without the launch, Apple would surely have lost more ground to its competitors.”
Despite record shipments during the fourth quarter, Apple’s share of the tablet market dipped to 49%, making Q4 2012 the first quarter when the company hasn’t controlled more than half of the market. The likes of Amazon and Samsung are to blame for this, as their devices continue to gain traction in the tablet market.
Amazon’s Kindle Fire range, which was expanded beyond the United States last year, helped it ship 4.6 million units during Q4 2012, giving it 18% of the tablet market. Samsung had an even better quarter, with 7.6 million tablets sold. That’s an increase of 226% for the Galaxy Tab maker.
The success of these two companies — with the help of Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 — helped Android grab a 46% share of the tablet market, which is its largest to date.
Source: Canalys
Via: The New York Times
