Analyst iSuppli has hailed a “watershed event” in the PC market after notebook shipments surpassed desktop shipments for the first time ever.

Third quarter data from the market watcher shows notebook shipments surged 40 per cent annually in the third quarter to 38.6 million – just as desktop shipments slid back 1.3 per cent to 38.5 million.

The breakthrough coincided with a “standout” quarter for notebook and netbook specialist Acer.

The Taiwanese vendor, which recently took pole position in the European standings, is now hot on global number-two PC outfit Dell’s heels having grown shipments 79 per cent annually in the third quarter.

Acer now boasts a 12.2 per cent market share, compared to Dell’s 13.9 per cent and HP’s 18.8 per cent.

Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms at iSuppli, said: “Momentum has been building in the notebook market for some time, so it is not a complete surprise that shipments have surpassed those of desktops.

“However, this marks a major event in the PC market because it marks the start of the age of the notebook. The notebook PC is no longer a tool only for the business market, or a computer for the well-off consumer; it’s now a computer for everyman.”

The top five global vendor standings were rounded out by Lenovo, which had a 7.5 per cent share, and Toshiba, which claimed a 4.6 per cent slice of the market.