Worldwide personal computer shipments between April and June were down 5% from a year earlier, a report has said.

一项报告显示，四月到六月间世界范围内的个人电脑出货量同比下降5个百分点。

Hewlett-Packard maintained its market dominance

Global shipments in the second quarter totalled 68.1 million units, said the report by computer research group Gartner, down from 71.7 million.

The decline was less than the 9.8% dip（蘸，下沉） Gartner said it had expected. As a result, it said there were now "small signs" the market was recovering.

Hewlett-Packard kept its top position, with 19.6% of world PC shipments.

This was a rise on its 18.1% share a year earlier. Gartner said the firm had benefited from "aggressive" price cuts.

By contrast, rival Dell saw its second-quarter market share decline to 13.6% from 15.6% a year ago, with Gartner saying the company had decided¹ to "protect its margins²" rather than extensively reduce prices.

However, Dell kept its number two position, just ahead of Acer. Lenovo was in fourth place, followed by Toshiba.

Garner³ said mini-notebooks - the very smallest laptops - remained the big growth area, with shipments rising 20% from a year earlier.