Samsung gains on major notebook vendors in Q1

Raising the bar: Toshiba posted year-on-year shipment growth of 95.5 per cent during Q1

Samsung was the big winner in the notebook market during the first quarter of this year, as the world's top three vendors gave away a combined three points in market share.

According to iSuppli, total notebook shipments in Q1 were down 5.4 per cent sequentially. The analyst attributed the drop to normal seasonal spending patterns.

But Samsung grew shipments 14.6 per cent to 1.9 million, with netbooks making up half the number of units. The South Korean electronics behemoth's market share jumped from 3.2 per cent in quarter four of 2009 to 3.9 per cent in 2010's opening three months. Consequently, it overtook Apple and Sony to move into the seventh spot in the vendor rankings.

Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst of compute platforms at iSuppli, claimed Samsung's entry into the US market had been a key driver of its stellar Q1 growth.

“Samsung’s netbooks are enjoying strong sales to European telecommunications operators, as European consumers in the first quarter continued to snap up netbook PCs bundled with mobile broadband contracts," he added.

In a year-on-year comparison, the Seoul-based firm's figures look even more impressive. Shipments in Q1 2010 stood at nearly double the 985,000 units the vendor shifted in the corresponding period last year.

The company's growth far outstripped the overall's market 42.4 per cent annual rise in shipments.

HP was the world's leading notebook manufacturer in Q1, but its market share still fell 1.4 points sequentially to 18.9 per cent. Acer, in second spot, also saw its market share decline, falling 1.5 points to 17.5 per cent. Third-placed Dell's share was down fractionally to 11.5 per cent.

Toshiba was the only vendor in the top five to grow market share in Q1, snaffling a 9.3 per cent slice, up about a third of a point on the preceding quarter. Fifth-placed ASUS saw market decline two-fifths of a point to 8.3 per cent.

Wilkins claimed the notebook market is all set for a bumper 2010. iSuppli's full-year growth projection now stands at 29.8 per cent, up from the 25.5 per cent growth it forecast two months ago.

Wilkins said: “Corporate and consumer demand for notebook PCs remains strong, as user preferences continue to shift away from desktops and toward mobile computers. Notebook shipments in the first quarter hit their second-highest quarterly level since iSuppli began tracking the market."