According to research firm Gartner, the global PC sales rose 20.7% to 82.9 million units in the second quarter when compared to same quarter last year.

Gartner's preliminary quarterly market report which was released on Wednesday showed that the growth was higher than Gartner's earlier forecast of a 19.3% increase. This is the third consecutive quarter for the PC industry with double digit growth.

Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa in statement said, "Average selling prices continue to decline, but at a much slower rate compared with the last two years."

The falling average selling price is due to the popularity of inexpensive netbooks and other mini laptops during the past years when global economy hit a slowdown.

The netbook shipments in the second quarter was about 20% which is much lower than above 70% recorded in the earlier two quarters. Mr. Kitagawa expressed that this trend shows that the netbook segment is moving towards its maturity.

The company said that Hewlett-Packard remained the number one PC maker in the world in terms of shipments however pointing out that its growth rate was below the industry average. The company said this is because HP did not compete with rivals in Asia/Pacific region by reducing prices but choose to save its profit margins.

Acer recorded strong growth in shipment and remained on the second position while Dell on the third place recorded double digit growth in the second consecutive quarter. Lenovo came in the forth position on worldwide scale. It increased its shipment by more than 47% through lower prices.

Meanwhile in India, Ina major shake up Dell managed to take the leading position from HP to become the India’s largest PC brand. According to the report 3.53 lakh PCs in the June quarter, compared with 3.31 by HP.

Another research firm, IDC also released its quarterly report which shows a 22% increase in global PC shipments.