Apple’s assault on the computer industry has seen the company enter the UK’s top five PC vendors for the first time, according to figures from Gartner.
Amid a worrying decline for PC sales overall, Apple slipped into the top five for shipments for the first time in the last three months of 2010, with a 6.2% market share in desktop and laptop computers.
Apple’s wedge could have been even greater if Gartner had included tablets, which were last year dominated by the company’s iPad.
The PC has also lost the consumer electronics limelight to smartphones and tablets, and without the arrival of new products, growth has fallen quickly
Overall, Apple trailed behind HP (22.1%), Acer (20.8%), Dell (9.8%) and Asus (9.5%) as the market actually shrank in the run-up to Christmas, with the industry selling 4.4% fewer computers than in the same period in 2009.
“For the first time since 2006 the overall consumer PC segment showed weak results during the Christmas holiday season, and declined 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010 [compared with Q3],” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
“The PC has also lost the consumer electronics limelight to smartphones and tablets, and without the arrival of new products, growth has fallen quickly.”
Gartner said Apple’s performance was the result of strong retail sales and high demand for the new MacBook Air.
The biggest loser of the results was Acer, which Gartner said sold 13.5% fewer computers in Q4 2010 than it managed in the Christmas season in 2009.
Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.
