Bloomberg reports that China overtook the U.S. as the largest personal-computer market last quarter, after three decades of American dominance in an industry pioneered by Apple (AAPL) and International Business Machines (IBM), and is expected to hold that lead as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) looks to divest its PC business to Lenovo.

Personal-computer shipments in China rose 14 percent to 18.5 million units and fell 4.8 percent to 17.7 million in the U.S. in the second quarter. The value of computer shipments in China in the second quarter was $11.9 billion, compared with $11.7 billion for the U.S., said IDC analyst Bryan Ma.

China now accounts for 22 percent of the global PC market by shipments, a percentage point more than the U.S.

“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-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. “China has a huge population and their income is rising.”

In 2009, China surpassed the U.S. to become the largest auto market.