Apple is the top Q4 2012 global PC maker according to Canalys, shipping 27 million units with over 20% share of the market as overall PC shipments reach 134m units with 12% Y-o-Y growth.
Samsung and Amazon also feature in the PC maker ranks, while Windows 8 has little effect on flat W. European notebook shipments.
Such numbers contrast sharply with those from Gartner and IDC, who paint a fair gloomier picture of the PC market-- but one has to keep in mind Canalys counts tablets as PCs in its totals, while the other analysts don't.
Tablets account for around 30% of the PC market with shipments growing by 75% Y-o-Y to 46.2m units. Total 2012 tablet shipments amount to 114.6m units.
Canalys reports one out of every 6 PCs shipped during Q4 2012 is an iPad, and strong iPad mini demand accounts for Apple's growth in the tablet segment. According to the analyst the mini makes over 50% of total Apple tablet shipments, while Q4 2012 Apple tablet market share drops to 49% for the 1st time.
"[The iPad mini's] success proves there is a clear demand for tablets with smaller screens at a more affordable price," Canalys says. "Without the launch, Apple would surely have lost more ground to its competitors."
Samsung and Amazon also see growth-- Samsung beats a struggling Dell to the 4th place in the top PC vendor rankings (with shipments reaching 11.7m units) and global Q4 2012 Amazon shipments grow by 18% Y-o-Y to 4.6m as the Kindle Fire launches outside the US.
Meanwhile the Microsoft take on tablets counts for just 3% of Q4 2012 shipments, with a launch Canalys describes as a "non-event" hampered by high pricing, poor channel strategy and confusion over the Windows RT operating system.
