Mobile PC market in China in H2 2011 up 25% from previous half to 26.5 million; mobile PC shipments in Q3 2011 exceed desktop PC shipments for first time: NPD Group

Kendall Sinclair

SANTA CLARA, California , March 5, 2012 (press release) – According to the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly China PC Shipment and Forecast Report, rapid growth of the China PC market is driven by the mobile PC segment, which includes notebooks, mini-notes, and tablet PCs. Total PC shipments in 2H’11 reached 53.4M, up 12.7% from the first half of the year. China is the largest market for desktop PCs and related displays (monitors or displays in all-in-one PCs), the #3 market for tablet PCs, and the #4 market for notebook PCs and mini-notes. For the PC market as a whole, China is #3, behind North America and EMEA.

The Quarterly China PC Shipment and Forecast Report noted a slowdown in the desktop PC market in 2H’11, up only 1% compared to 1H’11 and down 3% Y/Y. The all-in-one PC market continued to show good growth, up 32% compared to 1H’11.

Although shipments in desktop PCs are flat, the mobile PC market continued to show strong growth, reaching 26.5M in 2H’11, up 25% from 1H’11. In Q3’11, mobile PC shipments in China exceeded desktop PC shipments for the first time, thanks to the tremendous growth of tablet PCs.



“China continues to try to bolster domestic production of LCD panels to try to meet demand for both PC and TV displays,” said Robin Wu, PC and TFT Analyst for NPD DisplaySearch. “But most of China’s LCD production is from smaller Gen 5 fabrication lines, which cannot compete with larger Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese fabs in large panel production; these fabs have thus focused production onsmall/medium panel production, causing some shortages,” noted Wu. For example, 19” wide panels (the mainstream size for desktop monitors in China) were in short supply, affecting Chinese brands such as AOC, which saw its LCD monitor shipments decrease 10% in Q3’11.

The mini-note PC market in China continues to shrink. With Lenovo stopping shipments in Q3’11, total shipment volume decreased to 668K in the period. However, tablet PC shipments in China reached 4M in Q3’11. NPD DisplaySearch preliminary data for Q4’11 suggests that 11.5M tablet PCs shipped in China in 2011. Like many other regions in the world, Apple continued its dominant position in tablet PCs, while other brands like Lenovo and Samsung are struggling to catch up. Unlike other regions, however, white-box tablet PCs have a large share in this region.

“Based on strong results in 2011, domestic brands are making aggressive plans for 2012,” added Wu. “With estimated growth of 28% in 2011, all brands expect continued good performance in notebook PCs, implying tougher market competition ahead in the China PC market.”

The NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly China PC Shipment and Forecast Report is the first collective look at the entire personal computer market in mainland China, including tablet PCs, desktop PCs, all-in-one PCs, notebook PCs, and mini-notes. It provides the most comprehensive survey of domestic PC brands and associated products, such as desktop monitors, giving an accurate picture of the China PC market (due to the popularity of building DIY systems in China). It highlights the unique nature of the domestic China PC business and offers comparisons with other regions of the PC market.

For more information on this report, please contact Charles Camaroto at 1.888.436.7673 or 1.516.625.2452, or contact@displaysearch.com or contact your regional DisplaySearch office in China, Japan, Korea, or Taiwan.


About NPD DisplaySearch

Since 1996, NPD DisplaySearch has been recognized as a leading global market research and consulting firm specializing in the display supply chain, as well as the emerging photovoltaic/solar cell industries. NPD DisplaySearch provides trend information, forecasts and analyses developed by a global team of experienced analysts with extensive industry knowledge and resources. In collaboration with The NPD Group, its parent company, NPD DisplaySearch uniquely offers a true end-to-end view of the display supply chain from materials and components to shipments of electronic devices with displays to sales of major consumer and commercial channels. For more information on NPD DisplaySearch analysts, reports and industry events, visit us at http://www.displaysearch.com/. Read our blog at http://www.displaysearchblog.com/ and follow us on Twitter at @DisplaySearch.

About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 2,000 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, entertainment, fashion, food, home and office, sports, technology, toys, video games, and wireless. For more information,contact us, visitwww.npd.com/or follow us Twitter at www.twitter.com/npdgroup.

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