"For the first time in 2009, it was in the fourth quarter that we saw the three major countries in Western Europe posted growth," said Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst at Gartner, based in the UK. "The Western European PC market performed better than expected. Despite the tough economic conditions the consumer PC market provided vendors with a source of growth. The vendors that were able to execute their strategy clearly benefited from the consumers’ propensity to purchase PCs."

Acer moved to the No. 1 position achieving 33.9% growth in the 4Q/09. "Outside the top five vendors, we saw Apple, Samsung, Lenovo and Sony post significant growth compared to a year ago. Collectively, these vendors are increasing share and putting considerable competitive pressure on the top five vendors," said Mr Atwal.



While 2009 was underpinned by the consumer PC market, Gartner expects a resurgence of the professional PC market to bolster the PC market in 2010. "Windows 7 migration will act as the catalyst for replacement activity in the professional PC market in 2010," said Mr Atwal.