14 DAY TRIAL // Cupertino, California-based company Apple reportedly occupies the third position on the portable devices market, greatly helped by this year's launch of its first tablet computer, the iPad. According to a note sent by Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore to clients, Apple managed to easily leave behind companies like Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba and Dell, and climbed up the top three portable computer makers in the world courtesy of iPad sales during the second quarter of the ongoing year.
When it comes to the second quarter of the ongoing year, IDC's global portable computing market share survey shows that Apple's share of the portable market received a great boost from the impressive number of iPads sold in the time frame. Apple sold 2.47 million MacBooks and MacBook Pros during the three months period, a rather small number when compared to the 3.27 million iPads that were included in the equation.
“Our retail checks suggest this share shift continues in July,” Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore writes, “where the iPad is directly cannibalizing demand for other vendors' NB products. Remarkably, Apple's traditional MacBook business posted accelerated unit growth on a Y/Y basis in 2Q despite the launch of the iPad while every other Top 5 vendor slowed.”
It seems that Apple registered steady growth even without taking into consideration the iPad, but the inclusion of the slate in all charts shows impressive figures. “When including the iPad as part of the NB [notebook] market,” is what Chris Whitmore stated. “Apple leapt over Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba and Dell in terms of global unit share,” he continues, a recent article on Fortune reads.
Some might argue that the iPad cannot be included in the same device class as netbooks or notebooks, but we should not forget that many consumers are choosing Apple's tablet computer over notebooks or even laptops. All in all, the new device helped the Cupertino company jump from the seventh position globally to the third, and is expected to help it maintain momentum.
