Falling PC prices have driven the strongest ever year on year growth in EMEA, according to analysts the Gartner Group, which calculated a 23.5 per cent growth between Q2 2007 and Q2 2008.

As world PC shipments reached 71.9 million units in the second quarter of 2008 the strongest growth was recorded in EMEA, as mobile PC prices fell sharply.

"Mobile PCs lead unit growth across all regions as the average selling price plummeted relative to desktops PCs," said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner's client computing markets group.

However, sales might be up, but revenue is being clobbered, said Kitagawa. " Economic uncertainty hit PC revenues, resulting in steep ASP declines, especially in markets like the US and EMEA. The industry could consolidate dramatically if stronger vendors keep pressing their price advantage."

HP maintained its top spot, with 18.1 per cent of the worldwide PC shipment market. Its growth rate exceeded the industry average. Meanwhile Dell’s success - it had another strong quarter with PC shipments increasing 21.9 per cent – was attributed to its expansion into the channel.

PC shipments in EMEA reached 23.1 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 23.5 per cent increase from the same period in 2007

“The PC market in EMEA has beaten off the economic anguish. We have only ever seen the PC market exhibit growth above 20 per cent once before in the past five years,” said Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst for Gartner’s Client Computing Markets group in EMEA.

However, the strong performance was driven by declining average selling prices, he admitted. "This will impact revenues, margins and ultimately drive more consolidation,” he added.