PC sales hit by global economic turmoil

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According to new research from Gartner Worldwide PC sales between July and September were slowed by souring global economic conditions, with less expensive notebooks driving most of the 15.6% growth in units shipped.

Consumers and businesses are pinching pennies and opting for lower priced electronics.

As evidence of this, Gartner reports that sub-$500 computers, so-called mini-notebooks, was the fastest growing computer segment in the quarter.

Gartner analyst Mika Kitagawa said the Asia Pacific region was impacted by slowing PC sales in China.

The world's new appetite for less expensive PCs was a particular benefit to No. 3 Acer, whose market share increased the most in the quarter and it supplanted H-P as the top computer seller in Europe. Acer's share of computers shipped jumped to 12.5% in the quarter, from 9.7% a year ago.

Lenovo saw its market share slip to 7.3% from 7.8% a year ago.
Source: CNNMoney