When iPad is Included, Apple Was Top Mobile PC Vendor in 2011

Apple’s shipments of mobile PCs, including iPads, totaled 23.4 million units in 4Q11 and more than 62.8 million for 2011, giving the company the top spot worldwide. Nearly 80 percent of those units were iPads. The data comes from the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report, which was released on Thursday.

Apple’s 4Q11 shipments were up 128 percent year-over-year, while its 2011 unit shipments leaped 132 percent from 2010, according to NPD. Richard Shim, NPD DisplaySearch Senior Analyst, said in a press release: “Mobile PC brands read the writing on the wall in the fourth quarter.”

He continued: “Consumer demand for notebooks was expected to be weak following modest back-to-school results, especially with the expected launch of Windows 8 on the horizon, and increasing interest in tablet PCs. As a result, brands focused their typical holiday price cuts on tablets to boost demand.”

Worldwide tablet shipments in 4Q11 grew 42 percent from 3Q11 and 210 percent over the prior year while notebook shipments were flat quarter-to-quarter and up almost 11 percent year-over-year. The combination resulted in overall mobile PC shipments growing 12 percent from 3Q11 and 44 percent from 4Q10.