SiliconBeat

The personal computer industry suffered its worst growth rate since 2002 in the final quarter of last year. Shipments increased 1.1 percent to 78.1 million units, according to Gartner, an information-technology research firm.

“The United States experienced steeper than expected shipment declines due to the recession. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was also affected by the economic slow down across key countries,” said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner’s Client Computing Markets group. “Asia/Pacific recorded the worst shipment growth since Gartner started its PC statistics research. Latin America met expectations, but its growth was much lower than in the past.”

The holiday driver of PC sales was the lower-priced mini-notebook segment.

Hewlett-Packard managed to grow above the worldwide average in the fourth quarter of 2008, however its year-on-year growth was its lowest since its merger with Compaq in 2003, Gartner said.

Dell maintained its top position in the U.S. PC market in the fourth quarter of 2008, but its shipments declined 16.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 as business consumers pulled back on spending.

Acer’s sales grew 55 percent on the strength of its mini-notebook business. It’s Aspire One mini-notebook is pictured above.