Worldwide PC shipments struggled to meet expectations during the past financial quarter, according to new figures from IDC.

The analyst firm, which tracks shipments annually, revealed that, although sales were up by almost 16 per cent, this was slightly less than had been expected.

IDC said that, despite the market being bound with financial concerns, the arrival of low-cost PCs and equipment had helped boost overall sales, but at a disappointing rate.

The report added that, although Europe, Middle East and Africa showed strong results, and the US and Japan had remained fairly consistent, the results were affected by tepid growth in emerging regions.

"The proliferation of low-cost portable PCs coincided perfectly with market conditions," said Jay Chou, research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

"As more low-cost models enter the fray, a new pecking order may emerge among vendors as the market leans toward notebooks with ever-declining average selling prices.

"It remains to be seen how much cannibalisation will occur, and the degree to which mounting economic pressures will stifle PC market growth over the next year."

In Europe, notebooks sales were strong, particularly in the consumer market. IDC said that back-to-school purchases and deals from telcos, which helped the spread of low-cost ultra portables, had boosted this area.

However, the analyst is not convinced that this growth will continue. "IDC expects the ongoing economic woes in the US to further impact consumer and commercial PC spending during the holiday season," said Doug Bell, research analyst at IDC's Personal Computing division.

HP performed best among all the vendors, holding its position of worldwide leader with annual growth of almost 15 per cent.

Acer, which IDC said had focused on the emerging regions and portable devices, was able to break the trend and maintain its recent healthy gains.