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China (Briefly) Takes the Torch from U.S. as Biggest PC Market

China briefly grabbed the top spot from the United States as the top PC market in the second quarter of this year, according to analysts at IDC.

While the United States will most likely retain the full-year lead as the top market for PCs in 2011, IDC anticipates that China will take over the top spot for the full year in 2012.

By the numbers, China's unit shipments accounted for 22 percent of the market in Q2, compared with 21 percent for the United States. IDC's current forecast calls for the U.S. to have full year shipments of 73.6 million units to China's 72.4 million.

Next year, barring major economic disruptions, IDC expects China to take first place with a bullet at 85.2 million units to 76.6 million in the U.S.

"China's lead in the PC market is a huge shift that reflects the rising fortunes of emerging markets as well as the relative stagnation of more mature regions," said IDC analyst Loren Loverde in a statement this week. "While the immediate economic circumstances in the U.S. and other markets had a significant impact on the timing of China's move to the lead, they have not changed the trend, but accelerated it."

Posted by Scott Bekker on August 27, 2011


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