PC sales have remained steady this year despite a sagging economy, according to analysts.

Research firm iSuppli reported that global PC sales have increased at a steady rate, growing by 12.1 per cent over the last year. The figure is identical to the first-quarter growth rates recorded over the past five years.

Leading the pack was HP, which logged more than 13 million PC shipments, a 23 per cent increase and 18.9 per cent of the total market.

ISuppli credits much of HP's growth to the success of its notebook lines and a strong sales channel.

Dell was second on the list, logging a 20 per cent growth over last year by shipping more than 10 million PCs. The company logged a 15.4 per cent market share.

Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba rounded out the top five, posting market shares of 9.7 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively.

The findings surprised some analysts, who had expected the numbers to be brought down by sagging global economies.

"The first quarter of 2008 was better than hoped for due to continued strong demand growth for mobile PCs," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms research at iSuppli.

"However, the financial markets are still adjusting to the effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, as are the consumers and businesses who have had their financial positions impacted."

ISuppli now predicts sales to remain steady over the remainder of the year, posting a 10-11 per cent increase over PC sales in 2007.