The PC market has “weathered the storm,” according to a new report by IDC. Buoyed by holiday price cuts in particular, fourth quarter PC sales grew 24 percent year-over-year in the U.S., and 2.3 percent worldwide, the market research firm reported yesterday.

In its latest Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report, IDC cited "fourth quarter results [that] cap a strong second half of 2009, further cementing signs of a market revival." Positive factors cited by the firm include improving economic indicators that began in 3Q09, price declines, and a "new array of value-oriented notebooks."

According to IDC, the launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system provided additional help, "albeit moderate," as related marketing campaigns lured consumers back into the stores. However, business spending will take more time to recover, as enterprises wait for tangible signs of sustained economic growth before launching new refresh cycles, the report added.

It's said sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) returned to positive growth, after three quarters of declines, largely thanks to the sales of mini-notebooks and other low-cost portables. In Japan, the market grew 4.3 percent during 4Q09, and Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan, led global sales, with year-on-year growth of 31 percent, spearheaded, IDC wrote, by "bellwethers like China."

According to IDC, HP was number one in 4Q09 PC shipments in both the U.S. and worldwide, where it shipped approximately six and 18 million units, respectively. Number two worldwide was Acer, which shipped more than 11 million units, beating out Dell, which, with sales of 10.6 million PCs, came in third.

When it came to 4Q09 shipments in the U.S., however, Acer was number three (with 2.4 million units), coming after Dell (4.6 million). Toshiba, number five internationally, jumped up to fourth in the U.S., shipping 1.7 million PCs. That put it ahead of fifth-ranked Apple, which shipped approximately 1.5 million, according to IDC.

In all regions, but especially in the U.S., manufacturers focusing on portables fared best. Toshiba, for example, enjoyed a staggering year-over-year growth rate of 71.5 percent in the U.S., and 42 percent internationally.

Jay Chou, IDC research analyst, stated, "The market has weathered a storm which looks to be behind us. But salvaging decreasing margins will soon become even more pertinent as one considers the long-term effects of holding market share at the cost of profitability. Without an effective strategy to convey a clear usage model and feature set tied to each segment, the market will inevitably continue down the slippery slope of 'good-enough' computing sold to the lowest bidder."

Availability

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker gathers PC market data in 55 countries by vendor, form factor, brand, processor brand and speed, sales channel and user segment, according to the firm. The subscription-based research is said to include historical and forecast trend analysis as well as price band and installed base data.

More information on IDC's trackers may be found on the company's website, here and here.

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.