Martyn Williams and Stacy Cowley

Worldwide shipments of personal computers registered a double-digit percentage increase in 2005, according to figures published Wednesday by two major market analysts. Gartner Inc. estimated 218.5 million PCs were shipped in 2005 while IDC said it believes worldwide PC shipments totaled 208.6 million units. Despite long-standing concerns about weakening consumer PC sales, shipments have grown more than 17 per cent above 2004's totals for the past three quarters running