Dip in global computer shipments

Hewlett-Packard maintained its market dominance

Worldwide personal computer shipments between April and June were down 5% from a year earlier, a report has said.

Global shipments in the second quarter totalled 68.1 million units, said the report by computer research group Gartner, down from 71.7 million.

The decline was less than the 9.8% dip Gartner said it had expected. As a result, it said there were now "small signs" the market was recovering.

Hewlett-Packard kept its top position, with 19.6% of world PC shipments.

This was a rise on its 18.1% share a year earlier. Gartner said the firm had benefited from "aggressive" price cuts.

By contrast, rival Dell saw its second-quarter market share decline to 13.6% from 15.6% a year ago, with Gartner saying the company had decided to "protect its margins" rather than extensively reduce prices.

However, Dell kept its number two position, just ahead of Acer. Lenovo was in fourth place, followed by Toshiba.

Garner said mini-notebooks - the very smallest laptops - remained the big growth area, with shipments rising 20% from a year earlier.