by , 3:50 PM EDT, September 18th, 2008

DisplaySearch released a report on Wednesday showing that Apple's notebook share in North America grew by 60 percent year over year, at the expense of Acer and Toshiba. Hewlett Packard and Dell have maintained their market share of notebooks.

While Hewlett Packard has been the worldwide leader in notebook computer shipments for eight quarters, Apple is gaining rapidly, at the expense of Acer and Toshiba. HP and Dell are about even in North American shipments.

Source: DisplaySearch

The report noted: "Much of the growth in the notebook PC market over the past few years was driven by consumer purchases, a market that Dell has had trouble penetrating. Recent efforts by Dell indicate that they have placed a renewed emphasis on growing this segment."

Now that Apple is in double digits, its position in the notebook computer market is looking much more respectable and becoming an emerging threat to its competitors.

Analysts are expecting Apple to set a Mac sales record for the quarter ending in September, possibly 2.9 million worldwide.