Worldwide PC shipments reached 82.9 million units in the second quarter of 2010, a 20.7 percent increase from the second quarter of 2009, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. Gartner had expected second quarter PC shipments to grow 19.3 percent.

"The preliminary second quarter results indicate ongoing improvement of the PC market, and it marks the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth on a year-over-year basis," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "End-user spending grew approximately 13 percent in the second quarter. Average selling prices (ASPs) continue to decline, but at a much slower rate compared with the last two years."

"Mini-notebook shipment growth slowed significantly in the second quarter of 2010," Ms. Kitagawa said. "Mini-notebook shipment growth still exceeded growth rates of the overall mobile PC market, but mini-notebook growth slowed to the low 20 percent range compared with more than 70 percent in the last two quarters. This slowdown indicates that mini-notebooks are entering a mature growth stage."

HP maintained its worldwide lead in PC shipments (see Table 1), but its growth rate was below the industry average as the company tried to protect margins in key regions.