Overall, the Canadian PC market shrank by some 14.6% during the quarter, with desktop sales plummeting 36.8% across the board, while PC laptop sales grew by 9.9%. Apple’s laptop sales growth of 24% allowed the company to jump to its first-ever double digit market share figure in Canada.
As with other markets, the sole bright point for PC vendors is the netbook segment, which grew at a 219.6% rate year-over-year. According to IDC, some 25% of these netbook shipments went to the commercial space, as opposed to the on-the-go consumer market, which is the market usually touted for such devices.
“The second quarter has clearly indicated a shift in purchasing patterns, with Customers either buying low cost notebook PCs, including Mini Notebooks, or choosing Apple products,” Tim Brunt, Senior Analyst Personal Computing and Technology for IDC Canada, said in a statement.
HP was the number one PC vendor in Canada during the quarter with 22.1% market share, while Dell came in at number two with 20.7%. Acer is dominating the netbook market, however, with 57.5% of that low-margin market.