Apple has climbed to fifth in rankings of PC manufacturers, according to one research firm.
The ongoing popularity of the Mac range has seen Apple displace Asus as the fifth largest computer maker in the world. It now sits behind traditional PC heavyweights Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Acer.
That's the state of affairs according to the latest quarterly report from research company IDC.
If you're surprised that Apple is that low down, remember that the Mac brand is still extremely limited in terms of range and affordability compared to the broad spread of offerings from Apple's rivals.
It's also worth noting that if we were discussing profits on that PC hardware, Apple would walk away in clear first place.
Overall, the report found that the PC business had shrunk in the second half of 2014 so far, though not by much as predicted - 1.7 percent rather than 4.1 percent. This seems to reflect a wider trend of better-than-expected performance, suggesting that the troubled PC business might be stabilising after a period of decline.
Indeed, all of those top five PC manufacturers reported shipment increases of between 5 and 12 percent from this time last year. The rest of the industry didn't fare so well, however, with a 17.9 percent drop outside of the top five.
Apple's Mac figures should be boosted considerably in the next few quarters as rumours suggest that the range is set to receive a major overhaul. It's expected that a Retina display-equipped iMac will be launched at Apple's October 16 event, while rumours of a 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina display also refuse to die.
Read More: MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air: Which should you buy?
Via: The Verge
