Through its acquisitions in 2007, Acer now has distanced itself from its once close rival in market-share terms: Lenovo. In the first quarter of 2007 the two companies were separated by 0.4 percentage point of market share, however in the first quarter of 2008, the delta grew to 2.8 percent.

Better than expected
Overall, the first quarter performance of the PC market was slightly better than expected. Nonetheless, many of the challenges identified in the first quarter still remain.

“iSuppli continues to see a higher value proposition in notebook PCs relative to desktops, and the growth in this segment bears witness to this,” Wilkins said.

iSuppli believes that despite challenging conditions, the outlook for the PC market in 2008 remains healthy.

“We now forecast global PC unit shipment growth in the range of 10 to 11 percent this year,” said Wilkins, “Exciting new developments in the area of low-cost PCs will help stimulate PC demand, along with bringing them to a wider audience.”