PC sales overcome economic woes

According to research firm iSuppli, global PC sales have been increasing at a steady rate, growing by 12.1 percent over the last year. The figure is identical to the first quarter growth rates recorded over the last five years.

Leading the pack was HP, which logged more than 13 million PC shipments, a 23 percent increase and 18.9 percent of the total market. iSuppli credits much of the growth to the success of its notebook lines and a strong sales channel.

Dell was second on the list, logging a 20 percent growth over last year by shipping more than ten million PCs. The company logged a 15.4 percent market share.

Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba rounded out the top five, posting market shares of 9.7 percent, 6.9 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

The findings surprised analysts, who had expected the numbers to be brought down by sagging economies worldwide.

"The first quarter of 2008 was better than hoped for, due to continued strong demand growth for mobile PCs," explained Matthew Wilkins, iSuppli's principal analyst for compute platforms research.

"However, the financial markets are still adjusting to the effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States, as are the consumers and businesses who have had their financial positions impacted."

The company now predicts sales to remain steady over the remainder of the year, posting a 10-11 percent increase over PC sales in 2007.