Framingham (MA) - Analysts of market research firm IDC confirmed a healthy state of the global PC market as sales continued to grow on a solid pace in the second quarter of this year. Despite a slow dip, shipments are expected to grow in the low double-digit range this year and touch 230 million PCs.

Total PC shipments for the second quarter came in just above 52 million units on a worldwide basis, which is below original expectations, but still represented a 9.8% increase over Q2 2005 shipments. IDC lowered its 2006 forecast to 229.7 million PCs, which would translate into 10.5% year-over-year growth and remain in the psychologically important double-digit range.

Once again, the driving factors for PC sales were mobile computers as well as emerging markets. "Mature regions, like the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, are exhibiting more conservative growth trends, while developing regions are not only growing faster, but exceeding expectations," said IDC analyst Loren Loverde. "Although this is an important development trend, it’s also the case that the bulk of portable PC adoption - the leading market driver - remains concentrated in the more mature markets."

Notebooks continued to gain traction as consumer models are improving sales. "Looking forward, we expect desktop shipments will begin to stabilize, particularly in the enterprise segment. However, consumer notebook adoption will fuel industry growth and move us closer to the day when notebooks will out-ship desktop PCs," said IDC’s Bob O’Donnell.

IDC believes that double-digit growth will last at least through 2008. Unit shipments for 2007 are expected to reach 257.4 million and in 2008 287.7 million units.