New research from Gartner says Worldwide PC Market Grew 12 percent in first quarter of 2008, with the U.S. recession effecting minimal disturbance on Global PC Shipments in the quarter. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.1 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 12.3 percent increase from the first quarter of 2007. Apple saw the biggest gain among the top 5 vendors in the U.S. market, enjoying strong retail sales coupled with "decent growth" in the professional market. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard extended its lead, with marketshare increasing to 18.3 percent. Dell registered its second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in the worldwide market.

U.S. PC shipments totaled 15.2 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 3 percent increase from the same period last year, and Gartner says that home mobile PC growth was the primary driver. Dell's share of the U.S. market totaled 31.4 percent, while HP registered its lowest year-on-year growth since the Compaq merger in 2003. Apple's share grew from 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2007 to 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 32.5 percent.

Elsewhere, Asia/Pacific PC shipments reached 19.1 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 19 percent increase from the same period last year and Latin America PC shipments totaled 6.3 million units, a 19.1 percent increase from the same period last year. PC shipments in Japan grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008, as shipments reached 4.1 million units.