As most of you already know, the biggest players in the notebook or portable computers market are HP, Dell and Acer. A recent study by DisplaySearch has found that while the notebook market shrunk 6% from Q1 to Q2 this year, it was up 35% on-year in Q1 2008, with 31 million units shipped. According to the same study, HP has succeeded in remaining in the first place for the seventh consecutive quarter. Dell is behind HP with a difference of almost 2 million units.

HP's leading position must come as no surprise as the Palo Alto-based company has managed to hold on to its position with 20% market share for six consecutive quarters now. The No.2 notebook manufacturer, Dell, has been concentrating on expanding in China and has consequently achieved a 15% share in that country. Globally, Dell has a small advance over Acer and, if we are to consider the latter's latest acquisitions of Gateway and Packard Bell, then we might be seeing Dell fighting hard to maintain that position. But don't forget that Dell is also prepping the launch of its Dell E netbook, which is expected to raise the company's overall notebook shipments, especially since these devices will come with a small price tag.

The top ten also includes changes for "smaller" brands. According to the report, Apple took the number 7 spot after being No. 8 for four quarters. The current No. 8 position is being held by ASUS, which is also predicting a considerable growth in notebook shipments by the end of the year. A significant part of these shipments will probably come from the company's newly released Eee PCs.

Sony went from #6 in Q3 2007 to #7 in Q4 2007, and is currently at the number 9 spot, according to the DisplaySearch report. As compared to the other manufacturers, Sony's shipments have declined by 27% in areas where the top three players have grown by more than 50%.

A big part of the notebook shipments is still due to the 15.4-inch form factor. These notebooks account for almost 50% of shipments in Q1 2008. The 14.1-inch WXGA panels came in second place with 22 percent market share.