• Digitimes, Friday, July 1, 2011 12:09 PM

Apple will become the world's biggest notebook vendor in 2012, beating Hewlett-Packard to first place with a commanding slice of the mobile computing market, according to Chinese-language publication Digitimes, citing "industry sources." Global shipments of tablet PCs are expected to top 60 million units in 2011 with shipments from Apple likely to total 40 million units for a 60% share.

What's more, "some market research firms have predicted global tablet shipments are to top 80 million units [in] 2012 with iPads accounting for 60 million units." Additionally, Apple is also likely to ship 15 million MacBooks in 2012, bringing its combined shipments of notebooks and tablets to a total of 75 million units -- accounting for 25-30% of the global notebook market, Digitimes' sources estimate.

HP, meanwhile, shipped 40 million notebooks in 2010 and is expected to ship 45-50 million units in 2011, noted the sources, adding that HP will not be able to compete with Apple for the tops title in 2012 based on its performance in 2010 and 2011.

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