Worldwide PC sales grew by 15.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2007 boosted by increased demand in Europe for laptops. Figures from IDC's Quarterly PC Tracker reveal US shipments of desktop machines continued to decline while laptop growth remained strong. HP was most improved of the big vendors, with growth of 17 per cent.

Dell is still top of US sales with a market share of 28 per cent, but it is down almost five per cent on the same period of last year. HP is in second place with a share of 24.3 per cent. Apple is in third place with 6.3 per cent share, up a bit less than the market as a whole at 15.9 per cent. Toshiba is in fourth place with 5.2 per cent share and 16.7 per cent growth, while Gateway brings up the rear of named brands at 4.8 per cent.

Worldwide, HP is in the top spot with 19.6 per cent of the market, Dell being next with 15.2 per cent. Following them is Lenovo with 8.2 per cent, then Acer at 8.1 per cent and Toshiba with 4.4 per cent of worldwide shipments.

More details from IDC here.

Gartner figures are also out today. It reckons worldwide sales grew by 14.4 per cent in the period to a total of 68.5m units. Gartner also believes consumer portable sales are driving growth. ®