iSuppli analysts summed up the results of the computer sales in Q4 2007 and announced the sales growth of 14.2% compared with Q4 2006. According to their data, top-tier U.S. PC brands experienced a strong fourth quarter in 2007, with Hewlett-Packard (HP) holding its lead in the worldwide marketplace with a 19.1% share. The company shipped 14.6 mln of desktops and notebooks having thus increased their sales by 29.7% compared with the last year.

Dell which was bumped from the pole position in mid-2006 by HP, is showing signs of recovery. Dell saw fourth quarter shipments rise 17.4 percent, to 11.3 million units, over Q4 last year. Now they are in the second position in terms of PC shipments volumes and own 14.9% of the market.

Acer also demonstrated pretty good growth. They acquired the American Gateway Company, and immediately ousted the Chinese Lenovo from the third into the fourth position. As a result, the Taiwanese brand owns 9.5% of the PC market, while the Chinese one – only 7.6%.

The fifth position in the PC market with 4% share belongs to the Japanese Toshiba who managed to increase their computer sales by more than 25%.

Apple took the sixth spot with a 2.9% market share. However, their sales have been growing very nicely: by 39.9% compared with the last quarter of 2006 when the average market increase equaled only 14.2% over the same period of time. Looks like Apple’s decision to move to Intel based platform does have a lot of positive effect on their sales.

The situation in the notebook market is also very exciting. According to DisplaySearch, Acer stood out in the notebook segment, just like in the overall PC market. This Taiwanese brand sold 5.25 mln systems and hence took the second leading position in the ranks, having pushed Dell one step down. In Q4 Dell shipped 4.64 mln notebooks. The leader, HP, shipped 6.66 mln mobile systems.

The Chinese Lenovo is in the fifth position with 2.73 mln systems shipped; Toshiba is in the fourth with 2.86 mln; Fujitsu is in the sixth having shipped 1.62 mln laptops. Then come Sony, ASUS and Apple.

Notebook sales grew at a more steadily 14 percent quarterly rate in the last three months of 2007 to 33 million units. DisplaySearch projects notebook PC shipments to rise to 135 million units in 2008. It is interesting that the most popular notebook flat-panel size and resolution was 15.4 inches and 1280x800 pixels. The screen type accounted for half of all notebooks shipped in that quarter. Screens measuring 14.1 inches with a 1280x800 resolution followed a distant second at 23 percent of all units shipped in the quarter.