Apple biggest mobile PC maker thanks to iPad

Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) shipped more than 10.2 million notebook and tablet PCs combined in the fourth quarter, nearly a million more units than Hewlett-Packard Co., DisplaySearch said. While the iPad is benefiting from a first-mover advantage, particularly in mature markets, Apple's notebook PC shipment growth rate continues to exceed the industry average, according to the firm.

"While we anticipate increased competition in the tablet PC market later this year with the introduction of Android Honeycomb-based tablets, Apple’s iPad business is complementing a notebook line whose shipments widely exceed the industry average growth rate," said Richard Shim, senior analyst at DisplaySearch. "Apple is currently benefiting from significant and comprehensive growth from both sectors of the mobile PC spectrum, notebooks and tablet PCs. Cannibalization seems limited at this point."