SANTA CLARA, CA -- Mobile PC shipments fell 15% sequentially in the first quarter on typical seasonality, a leading research firm says.

Shipments actually grew 30% year-over-year to 76.2 million units, led by tablet PCs, which jumped 124% from last year while notebooks and mini-notes rose 12%.

Apple shipped nearly 17.2 million mobile PCs during the quarter, accounting for 118% year-over-year shipment growth, according to the latest NPD DisplaySearch data. Nearly 80% of Apple’s mobile PC shipments were iPads, which reached over 13.6 million units in the quarter, up 162% year-over-year.

China saw sequential quarter shipments grow 13% for mobile PCs overall, 12% for notebook and mini-note PCs, and 16% for tablet PCs. All other regions saw sequential declines.

Tablets fueled Apple’s mobile PC growth, enabling the company to reach 22.5% share, nearly twice HP’s share. The other brands in the top five relied on notebook PC shipments to establish their positions.

Table 1: Preliminary Q1’12 Worldwide Top Five Mobile PC Shipment Rankings by Brand

Source: NPD DisplaySearch Q2’12 Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report

In the notebook and mini-note PC market, many of the top brands took a conservative stance on shipments, opting to focus on margins and profits as opposed to market share. HP was one of the few top players in the market to increase its unit shipments year-over-year, by nearly 700,000 units. HP maintained the top notebook and mini-note PC ranking with 16.2% share, although it lost some ground in EMEA with shipments down 17% year-over-year. Acer took the number two position, capturing 11.9% share, with 6.5 million units. While China was a key region for Acer in the quarter, Lenovo was the chief beneficiary of the China region’s strong shipment growth. Lenovo also gained ground in North America. Dell lost share to Lenovo as it continued its focus on the commercial market segment. Asus was the most aggressive of the top five players in the notebook and mini-note market, gaining significant share in all regions, as it recovered after weak fourth-quarter shipments.

Table 2: Preliminary Q1 2012 Worldwide Top Five Notebook and Mini-Note PC Shipment Rankings by Brand

Source: NPD DisplaySearch Q2’12 Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report

Apple continued its dominance of the tablet PC market, capturing a 62.8% share. Barnes & Noble fell out of the top five. Amazon managed to hold on, but fell to #3 from #2. Samsung regained the #2 spot with its strongest results in EMEA. RIM and Asus jumped back into the top five rankings after weak results in the previous quarter.

Table 3: Preliminary Q1 2012 Worldwide Top Five Tablet PC Shipment Rankings by Brand

Source: NPD DisplaySearch Q2’12 Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report