Chart courtesy of iSuppli Corp.
The relative ranking of notebook/netbook suppliers did not change significantly in the first quarter of 2010, according to market analysis firm iSuppli Corp., except for a sudden surge by Samsung Electronics in global netbook sales, driven in good part by heavier presence in U.S. markets. Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for mobile computers at iSuppli, credited Samsung’s presence in netbooks as the main factor pushing the company from ninth to seventh place in the overall mobile PC market. While the rest of the industry experienced seasonal declines of 5.4 percent, Samsung’s units shipped grew from 1.7 million in the previous quarter to 1.9 million in the 1Q 2010, propelling its market share from 3.2 percent to 3.9 percent.
Hewlett-Packard Co.’s role as the biggest mobile computing supplier fell slightly from quarter to quarter, moving from 20.3 percent in Q4 2009 to 18.9 percent. Others in the Top Five (except Toshiba) lost share, though none changed their absolute ranking: Second-place Acer went from 19 to 17.5 percent; Dell shrunk almost imperceptibly at third, from 11.6 to 11.5 percent; and fifth-place ASUS fell from 8.7 to 8.3 percent market share. Only fourth-place Toshiba grew its market share slightly, moving from 9.0 to 9.3 percent, quarter to quarter. Fujitsu had the largest market gain globally, of 17.6 percent, but remains in tenth place overall, and still lacks a strong U.S. presence.
Wilkins said that 50 percent of Samsung’s mobile computer sales were netbooks, with a heavy presence in Europe resulting from European wireless operators acquiring them for bundled service sales in European markets.
Wilkins also pointed out that full-sized notebooks continue to grow as a market, primarily to the detriment of desktop computers, as many corporations are turning from desktops to notebooks for corporate use.
Loring
