China probably overtook the United States as the largest personal computer market last quarter after three decades of American dominance in an industry pioneered by Apple Inc. and International Business Machines Corp., Bloomberg reported.

Personal computer shipments in China rose 14 percent to 18.5 million units during the second quarter, the first time they surpassed numbers in the United States, where shipments fell 4.8 percent to 17.7 million, said Bryan Ma, an analyst at research firm IDC. On a full-year basis, China will likely pass the United States in 2012, he said.

The estimates highlight the growing importance of China’s consumers to the global economy. The country passed the United States in 2009 as the largest automaker.

Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s largest PC maker, indicated it may pull out of the business, even as China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. almost doubled its quarterly profit.

“This was going to happen sooner or later, just like with the car market, and the time has come,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ishi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “China has a huge population, and their income is rising.”

PC shipments in China probably will be 72.4 million for the year, about a million shy of those in the United States, Ma said. Next year, shipments probably will rise 18 percent and surpass the estimated 76.6 million U.S. units, he said.