Healthy sales this year.

I freely admit to liking new toys. Admittedly, my Sharp Zaurus is getting on but it’s one thing that I’m loathe to get rid of but my desktops are regularly replaced (let me just add that my old PC’s are recycled). So are yours according to a report by iSuppli.

The research shows global PC sales have been increasing at a steady rate - growing by 12.1 per cent over the last year. The significant point here is this: the figure is identical to the first quarter growth rates recorded over the last five years. This suggests that, regardless of the world economic state, home users and businesses feel the need to keep up with the latest tech (or at least have half a chance of supporting Vista the resource hog).

HP headed up the sales league with more than 13 million PC shipments, a 23% increase and 18.9 per cent of the total market. The success of HP’s notebook lines and a strong sales channel is credited as a significant factor in the companies rising sales figures.

Dell was second on the list with a 20% growth over last year. The company shipped more than ten million PCs attaining a 15.4% share of the market.

Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba rounded out the top five, posting market shares of 9.7 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively.

Analysts are rather surprised by the figures, having expected the numbers to be far lower on the basis of the flagging world economie - then again, we’re only just starting to feel the effects now so let’s see what the future holds.

Popularity: 11% [?]