Global shipments of personal computers rose 15.3 per cent in 2005 with Dell extending its lead over Hewlett-Packard and Europe overtaking the United States as the largest market, a survey showed yesterday.

Worldwide sales of personal computers (PCs) rose to 218.5 million units in 2005 from 189.5 million in 2004, according to preliminary data from market research group Gartner.

Shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 17.1 per cent to 72.7 million units, overtaking the United States which grew 7.5 per cent to 67 million. In 2004, the United States still slightly exceeded Europe, with both regions taking about 62 million units.

The fastest growth in 2005 was in Asia-Pacific and Latin America where unit sales increased 26 per cent to 42.8 million and 14.7 million respectively.

Dell continued to grow more than the industry average, as its worldwide PC shipments rose 18.6 per cent in 2005. Its global market share ended at 16.8 per cent, up from 16.4 per cent.

"However, Dell's worldwide growth rate started to slow down in the second half of 2005. During the fourth quarter, Dell's growth slightly exceeded the worldwide average, and it gained more from overseas markets," Gartner said in a statement.

Global number two Hewlett-Packard lost a little bit of ground to its closest rivals as its market share slipped to 14.5 per cent in 2005 from 14.6 per cent in 2004.

Third-placed Lenovo from China, which took over IBM's PC operations, increased its market share to 6.9 per cent from 6.8 per cent, and Acer from Taiwan expanded to 4.6 per cent market share from 3.4 per cent in 2004.

Fujitsu and Fujitsu-Siemens remained steady at 3.8 per cent, and were overtaken by Acer.

In the United States, fourth-quarter results confirmed that the US professional market replacement cycle has peaked.