Apple is now the third-largest manufacturer of mobile PCs. According to DisplaySearch, the company sold 6.3 million units, which translates into a market share of 12.4 percent in this segment globally. In the U.S. alone, Apple is now the leading mobile PC manufacturer.
DisplaySearch noted that the iPad took 8% share of all mobile PCs sold in the third quarter worldwide. 95 percent of shipments went into developed regions, especially to the U.S. Without the iPad, Apple's mobile PC market share would have only been 4.8 percent, which would have ranked the company 8th in the list.
"A lack of competitive tablet PC products from other brands continues to drive Apple’s market share in the mobile PC segment," said Chris Connery, vice president at the market research firm. "As the iPad continues its worldwide rollout, one developed region where the acceptance of the iPad has been weak is Japan, however. Questions of local language content and language-specific apps have slowed acceptance in this tech savvy region."
HP kept its position as the world's largest mobile PC company, with 9.5 million units shipped in the third quarter and a market share of 17.3 percent. Acer followed in second place with 9.1 million units and 16.5 percent share. Dell fell behind Apple to fourth place with 6.1 million units, followed by Toshiba with 4.3 million units. The five companies shipped 35.3 million mobile computers and captured 65.2 percent of the total mobile PC market share.