News 

The latest figures from Gartner claim that the worldwide PC market grew 16% in the second quarter of 2008, compared to the same quarter last year.

Laptops continue to be the main reason for the increase in shipments, as the average selling price of a laptop continues to fall sharply.

"Economic uncertainties have hit PC revenues, resulting in steep ASP [average selling price] declines, especially in markets such as the United States and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region," says Gartner principal analyst, Mika Kitagawa. "The industry could ultimately see a significant

HP retains its place at the top of the world PC league, increasing its market share marginally to 18.1%. However, Dell's second coming is really starting to gain momentum, with the company increasing its market share from 14.8% in Q2 2007 to 15.6% in Q2 2008.

Dell's revamped laptop lines - including the redesigned Inspirons and the newly-introduced Studio range - are performing especially well, with the company showing 40% year-on-year growth in laptops.

Sales of Apple Macs are also booming, with the company's PC shipments growing by nearly 40% in the second quarter in the US, where it is now the third largest PC maker.

EMEA PC growth is especially strong, with shipments up by nearly a quarter on last year, largely due to the emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Gartner's Top five worldwide PC vendors:

1. HP - 18.1%
2. Dell - 15.6%
3. Acer - 9.4%
4. Lenovo - 7.8%
5. Toshiba - 4.4%