Peter Clarke EE Times (01/15/2010 8:50 AM EST)

LONDON — Worldwide PC shipments surpassed 90 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, a 22.1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008, according to preliminary numbers from Gartner Inc. (Stamford, Conn.).

Although Q4 showed the strongest quarter-over-quarter growth rate the worldwide PC market has experienced for seven years the numbers are compared to a very weak quarter a year ago due to the economic downturn at that time, Gartner said.

For the year, worldwide PC shipments totaled 306 million units, a 5.2 percent increase from 2008. PC shipment growth was driven by the consumer mobile PC market with acceleration of average selling prices. Hewlett-Packard defended its top position, while Dell was replaced by Acer as the No. 2 vendor based on shipments. HP, Acer and Toshiba all benefited from strong consumer demand.

"These preliminary results indicate the recovery of the PC market on a global level," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "The U.S. and Asia/Pacific had already shown positive indicators last quarter, however the fourth quarter 2009 results were more concrete evidence of the recovery. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region entered the economic downturn later than the U.S. and Asia/Pacific, so it has been slower to recover. The EMEA region returned to positive shipment growth for the first time in three quarters, and Latin America and Japan also recorded shipment increases."

HP maintained top position in Q4 as it grew shipments slightly higher than the industry average. Gartner analysts said HP did very well in the U.S. market, and it regained the No. 1 position in the U.S. and EMEA from last quarter.

"Shipment growth was largely driven by low-priced consumer mobile PCs, both in regular notebooks and mini-notebooks. As economic weakness continued, buyers became extremely price sensitive. Low-priced PCs were good enough for many average consumers," Kitagawa said. "Windows 7 was launched during the fourth quarter of 2009. Though the new operating system launch did not create additional PC demand, the launch was a good market tool during holiday sales."

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