HP strengthened its position as the world's leading PC vendor while Dell endured a slump in both market share and shipments during 2009's first quarter, research has found.

Analyst IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker reveals total global PC shipments declined 7.1 per cent on the same period last year and stood at 63.5 million. The EMEA region suffered its first year-on-year decline in eight years, which was attributed in part to a soft market in Central and Eastern Europe.

Western Europe performed more solidly, as did the US, with consumer demand for mini-notebooks helping shore up sales. HP's worldwide shipments spiked 2.9 per cent to 13 million as its market share rose two points to 20.5 per cent.

Dell lost significant ground in second place as its market share dropped off 1.6 points to 13.6 per cent. The vendor's shipments plummeted 16.7 per cent to 8.65 million. Acer gained ground in third after swelling market share by 1.5 points to 11.6 per cent. Its shipments rose 6.8 per cent to 7.3 million.

Fourth-placed Lenovo endured an eight per cent drop in shipments, which stood at 4.4 million. However, its market share remained unchanged at seven per cent. Toshiba rounded out the top five after an impressive quarter in which shipments rose 11.6 per cent to 3.45 million.

The Japanese firm's market share also increased by nearly a point to 5.4 per cent. Shipments from all other vendors fell 12.8 per cent to 26.6 million, accounting for 41.9 per cent of the market.

Loren Loverde, IDC's programme director for the Tracker, said: "Tight credit and economic concerns have certainly taken a toll on PC shipments in the last couple of quarters, but the move to portables, fuelled by mini-notebooks and falling prices, has mitigated the impact.

"Following a drawdown in inventory throughout the supply chain, we expect more stable production over the next couple of quarters, with growth returning around the end of the year."

HP capped a successful quarter by overtaking rival Dell as the leading PC vendor in the US. Bob O'Donnell, IDC's vice president of clients and displays research, claimed Dell faces a hard road ahead.

"HP's dethroning of Dell as the US market share leader and extending its worldwide market share lead is a testament to the company's solid record of business execution over the last several quarters," he said. "It also indicates that Dell still faces some challenges in its efforts to reignite its business."