PC market up 16.6% in Q2 2005

Worldwide shipments of personal computers rose 16.6% in Q2 2005 as surging international demand and price wars drove shipments to their highest quarterly growth rate in nearly 4 years, IDC said. Dell distanced itself from #2 PC maker HP by posting 23.7% growth in Q2 2005 compared with 16.3% for HP. Gartner put overall PC market growth at 14.8% for Q2 2005. IDC said the 16.6% gain compared with Q2 2004 was the fastest growth rate since PC shipments posted an 18.9% year-over-year increase in Q3 2000.