HP topped the pile in the PC market in the second quarter this year, growing by 19.6 per cent and shipping 13.4 million PCs and notebooks.

It nabbed 19.1 per cent of a market which grew 14 per cent year-on-year to total sales of 70.2 million units, despite the global economy faltering around it.

HP has led the PC market since Q3 2006, but Dell has inched closer, according to latest figures from iSuppli. The direct seller leapfrogged Acer to the second spot, registering its fourth quarter of market share growth. It increased shipments 21 per cent year-on-year to 11.2 million for a 16 per cent market share. Researchers credit this to growth in its consumer retail and enterprise channel shipments. A year ago Dell did not have a retail channel at all.

Acer itself grew at more than the overall market rate, registering 17 per cent growth to 6.6 million units and a 10.6 per cent share.

Lenovo was fourth with 5.5 million units, up 14.4 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile Toshiba managed fifth place, growing 23.9 per cent to 3.1 million units on the back of strong notebook sales.

The second 2008 quarter's higher-than-expected shipment numbers were boosted by sales of netbooks - products like the Asus Eee PC and HP Mini-Note - researchers at iSuppli opined.

The picture next quarter is likely to be dismal, with even increased netbook sales unable to keep the market from shrinking. The credit crunch could be set to cause a PC shipment crunch. ®