Tablets saw strong sales in Q2 2012, propelling Apple into the
top spot as "PC maker", as tracked by research firm Canalys, which classifies tablets as PCs instead of mobile devices.
Windows PC shipments, on the other hand, continued to disappoint. Ultrabooks have not hit the price points that could excite large numbers of buyers and the share of the overall market taken by Windows fell to a new low of 73%. Intel's share also hit an all-time low, falling below 70%.
But against this dark background there were some bright points. Lenovo continued to gain share, thanks to a strong home market, a focus on emerging markets and increased attention to the consumer category overall. Acer improved too, compared to a terrible Q2 a year ago. Improved brand awareness through its Olympics sponsorship should translate into increased sales in the second half of the year.
HP was the second largest PC vendor in Q2 with 12% share. The sensible cost-saving decision to merge its PC and printing divisions impacted its first half, but a Canalys survey of channel partners revealed that a large majority think this will have a positive (or neutral) effect on their future business.
The Windows 8 launch budget guarantees attention during Q4, but users will only benefit fully from the new OS if they buy PCs with touch screens, which will significantly increase the purchase price. The launch of Windows 8 is not expected to arrest Microsoft's market share decline until Q3 2013 at the earliest.
Intel pledged to invest $300m in Ultrabook ecosystem players, but there is no indication, as yet, that Microsoft is prepared to make a comparable commitment to the PC supply chain.