PC shipments have continued to expand over the last few months despite a chorus of negativity regarding the market. Beancounters at research firm iSuppli said that shipments increased by 10 per cent over the last quarter and shipments will continue to rise in the fourth quarter.

World-wide PC shipments totaled 88.1 million units during the latest quarter, narrowly missing iSuppli's forecast. The measure was up from 82.6 million in the second quarter and 79.9 million a year ago. Principal analyst Matthew Wilkins said that even with consumer confidence shaken by government austerity measures, individuals and businesses continued to purchase PCs in the third quarter. Shipments for all three major types of PCs grew. Desktop PCs generated the strongest sequential growth rate, and were up 15 per cent on the year.

True, those rates slowed from increases seen in the first half of the year due to consumer-confidence issues. Both iSuppli's comments confirm data from two other researchers which said that PC demand rose in the third quarter.