Notebook shipments exceed desktops for first time

Sales of notebook PCs exceeded those of desktops for the first time ever in the third quarter of 2008, according to the market data company iSupply.

Notebook PC shipments rose nearly 40 percent in the third quarter of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007, to reach 38.6 million units. Desktop PC shipments declined by 1.3 percent, over the same period, to 38.5 million units.

"While the third quarter will be remembered as the time when the scale of the global credit crunch truly became apparent, the PC market managed to deliver strong unit shipment growth during the period," said Matthew Wilkins, a principal analyst at iSuppli, in a statement.

According to iSupply, there was no change in the top-five companies — HP remained at the top with shipments of 14.9 million units and a market share of 18.8 percent in the third quarter of 2008.

Dell kept its second-place ranking with shipments of slightly fewer than 11 million units, giving the company a market share of 13.9 percent.

The number-three company was Acer, with a market share of 12.2 percent resulting from shipments of 9.7 million during the quarter. The iSupply analysts marked Acer's sales as "a standout performance". Lenovo had 7.5 percent market share and Toshiba had 4.6 percent.