Apple leaps to 10.6% in North American Notebook Share

Apple has seen the single largest jump in notebook market share of all top manufacturers in North America, according to a new DisplaySearch report.

The company's spring 2008 market share in North America surged year-over-year from 6.6% to 10.6%, moving it up to fourth place in the market and handing the Mac maker the single largest jump in market share of the top five. This surge came at the expense of other established notebook producers, with Acer plunging from 18.6% to 14.4% over the same period while Toshiba also lost significantly, dropping from 11.4% to 9%.

Dell and HP led the study in first and second place respectively but made only slight gains in market share.

Apple's performance isn't directly explained in the study, though the majority of its notebooks occupy the 13.3-inch to 16-inch size category that saw the largest worldwide gains over the 12-month period. Desktop replacement notebooks of 17 inches or larger dropped to just 7.5 of the market, while ultraportables (10.4 to 12.1 inches) now account for just four percent as netbooks steal their influence.