Apple is among only two notebook makers in early 2011 experiencing strong demand, with the Cupertino, Calif. firm doubling orders for some “hot-selling” MacBooks, according to a Friday report. The news follows indications the Apple notebook was “flying off the shelves” during the holiday buying period.
HP was the only PC notebook brand seeing first-quarter demand amid a flaw discovered in an Intel chipset which depressed production levels. HP could ship 10 million notebooks during this year’s first quarter – down from 11.13 million units shipped last quarter. The chipmaker says its Sandy Bridge chips won’t return to full production until April. (MacBooks should see an update of the Intel chips in June, other reports indicate.)
Apple sold a record 4.13 million Macs during the fourth quarter of 2010, with mobile computers amounting to $3.7 billion in sales. Buoyed by strong MacBook Air and MacBook Pro sales, demand for Apple products neared eight-fold that of IDC’s average global estimate.
[AppleInsider, CNET]