China eclipsed the United States as the world's largest personal-computer market in the second quarter, and is set to capture the full-year title in 2012, research firm IDC said on August 23.
PC shipments in China rose to about 18.5 million units in the quarter, compared to 17.7 million units in the United States.
The shipments were worth $11.9 billion and $11.7 billion, respectively.
During the April-June period, China's market share of global PC shipments increased to 22%, surpassing the 21% share held by the world's biggest economy.
The data includes desktops, portables and mini-notebooks, but not handhelds, such as tablets.
IDC forecast that 85.2 million units will be shipped in China in 2012, compared to 76.6 million in the US.
"There are of course still risks ahead for China, including not just inflation but also the impact of economic conditions in the US and Europe," said Kitty Fok, vice president for Greater China Research at IDC.
"But in the meantime, the Chinese government's 12th Five-Year Plan should help large enterprises... to continue to move along, not to mention of course the ongoing efforts to increase consumer penetration in lower-tier cities."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
