What Does This Nosedive Mean to Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)?

Last week, we brought you this interesting story (check it out here) regarding the mobile PC market and how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fits into the equation. Today, we are going to take a closer look at global notebook shipments during the second quarter of 2013 and the impact on both Apple as well as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).

As you can imagine, both of these companies are fighting to stay alive in the notebook market. That being said, Microsoft has a much bigger interest in this than Apple. After all, the company’s Windows operating system is the primary OS in the majority of notebooks shipped throughout the world.

Digitimes Research recently published data on this market, stating that global notebook shipments took a 15 percent nosedive on year in the second quarter of 2013. Does this spell doom for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)?

Here is more from the story:

“Global notebook shipments saw their on-year drop expand from 13.7% in the first quarter to 15.4% in the second, rewriting the record of the worst shipment drop in the notebook industry’s history.

Although the second-quarter shipments enjoyed a 1.8% sequential growth, consumer demand was still weak despite the promotions and product launches by brand vendors, including Intel’s and AMD’s new CPUs, Microsoft’s Small Screen Touch (SST) project and brand vendors’ cheap tablets and price cuts, according to Digitimes Research’s latest figures.”

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is doing all its can to stay relevant in this space, and the upcoming release of Windows 8.1 is going to help in this regard. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), on the other hand, will have a much easier time surviving thanks to its tablet and smartphone business.

As fewer people purchase notebook computers, the number relying on tablets and smartphones will continue to increase. This plays right into Apple’s hands.

The study goes on to mention Apple, showing that it has lost ground to Samsung in this market:

“Among the top-10 notebook brand vendors, Lenovo and Dell were the only two seeing on-quarter shipment growth in the second quarter. Samsung suffered a slight drop of 0.3% sequentially, but its monthly shipments have already surpassed those of Toshiba and Apple, making it a threat to Acer and Asustek Computer.”

For Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) this is an interesting story to keep an eye on. While nobody knows what is going to happen next, it appears that the notebook market will continue to flounder. Which of these companies will feel the biggest impact?