According to research company Gartner, worldwide PC shipments for the fourth quarter of 2009 experienced the strongest growth rate in over seven years. Compared to the same period in 2008, shipments increased by 22.1 per cent to 90 million units.

Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, commented on the results and what this means for the industry.

“These preliminary results indicate the recovery of the PC market on a global level,” said Kitagawa.

“The US and Asia Pacific had already shown positive indicators last quarter, however the fourth quarter 2009 results were more concrete evidence of the recovery.”

Kitagawa said that the launch of Windows 7 didn’t create much more demand in the market and growth is mainly attributable to low-priced units on the market.

“Windows 7 was launched during the fourth quarter of 2009. Though the new operating system launch did not create additional PC demand, the launch was a good marketing tool during holiday sales,” said Kitagawa.

“Shipment growth was largely driven by low-priced consumer mobile PCs, both in regular notebooks and mini-notebooks. As economic weakness continued, buyers became extremely price sensitive. Low-priced PCs were good enough for many average consumers.”

According to Gartner, HP maintained its top position in worldwide shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009. HP also surpassed Dell as the number one vendor in the US based on its impressive fourth quarter result.