Lenovo Could Unseat iMac as Top All-in-One PC

Apple is currently the world's number one vendor of all-in-one PCs but is likely to lose that crown next year to Lenovo, according to research.

Digitimes' figures give Apple's iMac a leading share of the all-in-one PC market for 2011, with 3.7 million units sold, ahead of Lenovo's 2.9 million and HP's 2.4 million.

Next year, though, Apple is likely to sell 3.8 million iMacs while Lenovo could shift four million all-in-one PCs, Digitimes reckons.

"Although Apple's iMac series has advantages in industrial design, the product series has shown only limited room for change in specifications. However, HP and Lenovo have delivered above-the-standard industrial design in their products, while offering better hardware specifications, price and a variety of choices. Therefore, Apple's leading position in the AIO PC market will be taken by Lenovo in 2012," Digitimes says in its report.

Overall, 13.5 million all-in-one PCs will be sold in 2011, which will rise to 15.8 million in 2012, Digitimes reckons. In 2011, all-in-one sales will account for 9.3 percent of the desktop market, whereas they will account for 10.5 percent of the overall desktop market in 2012, according to Digitimes' projections.

China is seen to be one of the key markets for all-in-one PCs and Lenovo's foothold in this market, combined with lower prices than Apple's, will be key to its growth in 2012.

"AIO PC models that feature a Wintel structure and have a lower price than iMac will continue to penetrate into advanced countries due to many brand vendors entering into the AIO PC market in 2011. Meanwhile, Lenovo's aggressive planning for AIO PC market in China will become another key driver that helps drive market growth."

HP, however, "has been affected by a lack of stability in its PC department, which may mean it will have difficulty expanding its share of the AIO PC market."
(pcworld.com)