(Images courtesy of MacRumors)
While most of the media hysteria tends to focus on the runaway success of Apple’s mobile products such as the iPhone and the iPad, the company is quietly increasing their market share on desktop and laptop computers at the same time.
MacRumors is reporting that a preliminary report issued Wednesday from research firm Gartner shows that Apple’s Mac products are “outpacing that of the industry as a whole” -- including here in the U.S., where the Mac’s slice of the pie has now hit 10 percent for the first time since the ‘90s.
“Apple had another strong quarter,” Gartner reported. “Increasing traffic to Apple, associated with the iPad release (iPads are not included in Gartner's PC shipment statistics), as well as iMac and Mac Pro refreshes, contributed to the growth.”
Apple now ranks fourth in U.S. computer shipments with a 10.4 percent market share, up from 9.3 percent a year ago and 9.8 percent from the previous quarter. The Mac fell just shy of third place, which went to Acer with 10.5 percent; the top two spots were no surprise, with HP first at 25.3 percent and Dell second at 23.8 percent. Toshiba actually trails Apple with only 9.3 percent, with everyone else taking up the remaining 20.7 percent.
Overall, Gartner saw only modest gains in U.S. PC shipments for the third quarter of 2010, which were up 2.2 percent over the same quarter last year. The reason appears to be at least partially due to the iPad and tablet fever.
"Media tablet hype around devices such as the iPad has also affected consumer notebook growth by delaying some PC purchases, especially in the U.S. consumer market,” the report reveals. “Media tablets don't replace primary PCs, but they affect PC purchases in many ways. At this stage, hype around media tablets has led consumers and the channels to take a 'wait and see' approach to buying a new device."
Worldwide, Apple had a bit less luck, coming in just shy of the top five computer manufacturers, where Asus and Toshiba duked it out over the fourth and fifth spots at 5.4 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.
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