The United States, through pioneering companies Apple and IBM Corp. has dominated the personal computer market for three decades but China overtook the US in this industry last quarter.
The shipment of personal computers in China increased 15 percent to 18.5 million for the second quarter, the first time it surpassed the US which decreased by 4.8 percent to 17.7 million. Research firm IDC analyst Bryan Ma said China will probably pass the US in 2012.
China has also passed the US in 2009 as the world’s largest auto market. It only shows the growing importance of consumers in China to the global economy. Hewlett-Packard, the largest PC maker in the world, indicated its plan to pull out of the business as the Lenovo Group of China posted an almost double quarterly profit.
“This was going to happen sooner or later, just like with the car market, and the time has come,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “China has a huge population and their income is rising.”
Ma said China’s computer shipments amounted to $11.9 billion in the second quarter compared to the US’ $11.7 billion for the same period. China also accounted a percentage point more than the US with a 22 percent of the shipment in the global PC market.
Ma however said that shipments in China will probably be about a million shy of the US as it ends at 72.4 million for the year. He added an expected 18 percent increase in China shipments by next year, surpassing the US estimates of 76.6 million units.
China overtaking U.S. as top market for PCs
The United States, through pioneering companies Apple and IBM Corp. has dominated the personal computer market for three decades but China overtook the US in this industry last quarter.
The shipment of personal computers in China increased 15 percent to 18.5 million for the second quarter, the first time it surpassed the US which decreased by 4.8 percent to 17.7 million. Research firm IDC analyst Bryan Ma said China will probably pass the US in 2012.
China has also passed the US in 2009 as the world’s largest auto market. It only shows the growing importance of consumers in China to the global economy. Hewlett-Packard, the largest PC maker in the world, indicated its plan to pull out of the business as the Lenovo Group of China posted an almost double quarterly profit.
“This was going to happen sooner or later, just like with the car market, and the time has come,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “China has a huge population and their income is rising.”
Ma said China’s computer shipments amounted to $11.9 billion in the second quarter compared to the US’ $11.7 billion for the same period. China also accounted a percentage point more than the US with a 22 percent of the shipment in the global PC market.
Ma however said that shipments in China will probably be about a million shy of the US as it ends at 72.4 million for the year. He added an expected 18 percent increase in China shipments by next year, surpassing the US estimates of 76.6 million units.
See Also: