The world's personal computer makers experienced recession busting growth during Q2, with shipments up 20.7 per cent on the same period in 2009.

So said market watcher Gartner this week when it revealed that computer shipments were up 16 per cent in the US and 21 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Worldwide, some 82.9m PCs shipped in the quarter.

All the major brands did well, but Asian companies experienced unit shipment growth that far outstripped their Western rivals.

HP retained the leading seller slot but, like Dell, saw shipments grow by less than the industry as a whole - 12.3 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

Contrast that with the Asians: Acer, Lenovo, Asus and Toshiba, all of whom say shipments rise ahead of the industry: 31.6, 47.2, 78.5 and 27.5 per cent, respectively.

Acer pushed Dell out of the world number two slot, and all four Asian vendors increased their market share. HP and Dell saw their shares dip, but only by a percentage point or so.

Asus' growth allowed it to step past Toshiba into the world vendor chart's fourth slot.

Apple, incidentally, didn't make the top six globally or in EMEA, but it did make fourth place in the US with 9.8 per cent market share, up from 9.1 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Fifth-placed Toshiba increased it share too, but HP, Dell and Acer - in postions one, two and three - all saw their US market share decline despite rising shipments.

Acer's shipments actually fell here, by a tenth of a percentage point - let's be generous and call shipments unchanged year on year.

Not so in EMEA, though, where Acer's shipments leapt 37.1 per cent, pushing it past HP into the top vendor slot. All the major vendors experienced improved shipment volumes here, though HP and Dell lost market share while Asus and Toshiba, like Acer, gained it. Here too, Asus pushed past Toshiba, on the back of a 96.5 per cent increase in shipments. ®