Tablets drive global PC market growth

The worldwide PC market grew seven per cent in the first quarter of 2011, driven by sales of tablet computers, data from Canalys shows.

Once again Apple's iPad led the field and uptake of similar devices came at the expense of notebooks and netbooks, which struggled to compete for consumers' spending.

In the first quarter of 2011 tablet shipments hit 6.4 million units worldwide with Apple accounting for 74 per cent while its many competitors vied to capture the remainder of the market.

Canalys anticipates that in the coming quarter there will be a significant market shake-up following the arrival of tablet devices form the likes of Acer, Asus, LG and Blackberry manufacturer RIM.

Also, the impact of the iPad 2 is yet to be felt and with Apple's latest offering making its debut in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore this week it looks set for another strong quarter.

Canalys analyst Tim Coulling said: "The pad represents a real threat to PC and consumer electronics vendors, as it is capable of replacing devices in a range of other categories."