HP remained #1 in the notebook PC market for the sixth consecutive quarter, maintaining more than a 2 million-unit lead over #3 Dell. HP maintained its 20% share of the market for the fifth consecutive quarter. Of particular note is that Acer, which had been a distant third to Dell, dramatically narrowed the gap to its rival excluding its acquisitions of Gateway and Packard Bell and overtook Dell when these acquisitions are included. In Q4’05 and Q4’06, the volume gap between Acer and Dell was more than 1 million units. In Q4’07, that gap dropped to less than 100,000 units. When Acer’s acquisitions of Gateway and Packard Bell are added to the equation, Acer passed Dell by more than 600,000 units. Toshiba maintained its #4 rank.
DisplaySearch analysis indicates that the increasing transition of consumers from desktop PCs to notebook PCs is having a direct impact on brands' growth and market share. Brands with established enterprise and retail presences have had the most success in growing market share in the past several quarters. This helps to explain the faster than average growth for HP and Acer.
Once again, the most popular panel size and resolution in the third quarter was 15.4" 1280 × 800, which accounted for slightly more than 50% of all notebook PCs shipped in the quarter. In a distant second position was 14.1" 1280 × 800 with 23% share.
There are significant regional differences in notebook panel size. Specifically, Japan, Greater China, and the Asia Pacific countries— with less than 24% share of the world’s notebook PCs —buy 37% of the world’s 12.1” and smaller notebook PCs. On the other end of the size spectrum, the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, which held almost 42% share of the world’s notebook PCs, bought more than 50% of the world’s 15.4” and larger notebook PCs in Q4’07.
Regional results also show that Acer’s acquisitions helped it regain a few points of market share in EMEA, narrowing the distance to rival HP. One bright spot for Dell is that it managed to maintain its share lead in North America, holding off HP by just over 3%.
Looking at 2008, DisplaySearch expects notebook PC shipments to continue to grow, with total notebook PC shipments exceeding 135M units for the year.
Additional details from Q4'07 as well as forecasts by size and resolution are in DisplaySearch's Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report including a detailed look at all aspects of the notebook PC market, long-term forecasts by size and resolution, the notebook PC display supply chain, and market share by brand.
Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report
Carnegie Mellon University scientists have shown that just listening to a cell phone while driving is a significant distraction, and it causes drivers to commit some of the same types of driving errors that can occur under the influence of alcohol.
The use of cell phones, including dialing and texting, has long been a safety concern for drivers. But the Carnegie Mellon study, for the first time, used brain imaging to document that listening alone reduces by 37 percent the amount of brain activity associated with driving. This can cause drivers to weave out of their lane, based on the performance of subjects using a driving simulator.