Laptop sales exceed those of PCs

NEW YORK - Shipments of notebook computers edged passed desktop sales in the third quarter for the first time, according to the research firm iSupply. Preliminary figures show notebook PC shipments shot up about 40 percent from the same period a year earlier, to 38.6 million. Desktop shipments fell about 1.3 percent, to 38.5 million.

The numbers underscore a shift to portable computing as more functions like e-mail and Web surfing migrate to mobile phones and the popularity of inexpensive "netbooks," used mainly for Internet access, grows.

An AmTech Research analyst, Dinesh Moorjani, expects computer makers to ratchet down production of desktops by 20 percent in the fourth quarter, while notebook production remains flat.