Stories abound day in day out on the damage the global economic crisis is doing to all industries and many businesses, but there’s a new report just out revealing that PC demand has remained relatively resilient in the face of this downturn compared to the last.

According to IDC, low-cost portable PCs continue to appeal to consumers and support growth in the PC market, with worldwide PC shipments (including desktop and portable PCs, but excluding x86 servers) down 7.1% year over year in the first quarter of 2009 – slightly better than a projected decline of 8.2%.
 
The United States fared well, with shipments falling only 3% as HP, Acer, and Toshiba, according to IDC, leveraging portable sales into solid growth. In addition, IDC reports, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia/Pacific excluding Japan also came in slightly better than expected.
 
HP grew 2.9% overall and claimed the number 1 spot in the U.S. , with IDC reporting that the company’s sales were boosted by solid demand in consumer notebooks, especially in United States and Japan, which saw double-digit growth in part from a strong showing in the retail channel.
 
Internationally, HP shipments were down just 1% from a year ago while the total market was down near 8%, IDC reports.

Commenting on other vendors, IDC reported that Dell “had a tough quarter across the board, though it fared better in some emerging regions”;  Acer “had a solid quarter with shipments increasing nearly 7% from a year ago,” and “the company continues to expand rapidly in the Americas”; Lenovo saw “total growth in-line with the market as gains in Asia/Pacific offset losses elsewhere”; Toshiba “finished 1Q09 with 11.6% growth,” and “its continuing focus on Portable PCs contributed to share gains in every region.”
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