This follows exceptional growth of 27 percent in Q1, IDC says, reflecting a "sometimes bumpy" economic recovery with strong buying in both the commercial and consumer sectors.

And – unlike 2009 – the recent market recovery has also seen a small rebound in higher priced models as netbooks become less of a driver of volume. IDC tips this trend to pick up steam.

Although low to mid-range portable PCs still dominate the market, desktop PC sales also recovered with their first yearly growth since Q2 2008, IDC says.

However main growth in 2010 is expected to come from mainstream notebooks – tipped to rise 26.6 percent over the full year.

IDC tips PC market growth to continue in coming years, with worldwide shipments reaching 569.6 million units in 2014, made up of 142.7 million desktops and 426.9 million portables.

However notions of what makes a portable PC may change. "New devices such as e-readers and media tablets will pose disruptive challenges to conventional usage models while opening up intriguing possibilities in consumer and mobile business spaces," IDC says.