Growth slowed in the United States market for home and business computers in the second quarter because of the ongoing economic uncertainty, according to two surveys released on Wednesday.

Some 17 million personal computers, including desktops, notebooks and Apple  products, were shipped in the United States during the second quarter, a 3.6 percent increase over the year-ago period, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

"As expected, the U.S. market had a sluggish performance, with growth in low single digits due to budgetary constraints among both consumers and businesses," said David Daoud, research manager, personal computing, IDC.

He warned that demand could remain depressed in coming quarters if the economic situation doesn't improve, despite price cuts on computers.

Gartner, an information technology research firm, said the growth in U.S. shipments could have come at the expense of revenue, as vendors cut prices to stir demand.

Hewlett-Packard Co, the No. 1 PC vendor, lost market share this quarter but remained the worldwide market leader, increasing shipments by nearly 17 percent, IDC said.

Dell Inc, which trailed HP in worldwide shipments but remains the U.S. market leader, shipped 5 million PCs domestically during the quarter, increasing its market share by 12 percent from a year ago, the surveys said. Dell's aggressive retail expansion is likely to drive volume in coming quarters, the surveys said.

Globally, PC shipments grew about 16 percent.

Growth in the Asia-Pacific market was lower than expected as rising energy costs and inflation concerns cut into spending, IDC said. 

But "ultra low cost offerings" in Europe, the Middle East and Africa along with strong demand for notebook computers and a strong Euro helped PC sales, IDC said. The Gartner survey said the notebook computer market saw growth of 40 percent in these regions.

Source:Reuters