Analyst firm says sales higher than it originally believed IDC revised its preliminary figures for second quarter PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Monday, saying sales had been higher than first believed. Shipments were up 13.4 percent over the same quarter the previous year, rather than the 9.8 percent figure that IDC gave last week.In a webcast, Karine Paoli, research director for EMEA personal computing at IDC said that notebook sales had been particularly strong and had driven the whole PC market to the highest growth rate since the end of 2000.Unit sales of notebook computers were up 38 percent year on year, compared to a 5.4 percent rise for desktop PCs, Paoli said. The majority of the increase had come from the small business and consumer markets, she said. Hewlett-Packard had made “incredible gains,” with growth of 62 percent in notebook unit sales year on year due to its marketing campaigns and very aggressive pricing, Paoli said.Acer’s focus on the small to medium enterprise market had paid off, pushing it into number two position in the notebook market, Paoli said.The outlook for the second half of the year is positive, Paoli said. Sales will continue to be constrained by the weak economy but the continued price wars and price erosion will keep pushing sales, she said. Margins have been badly hit by the price wars in the market, but the demand stimulated by the low pricing may bring revenue growth with it, Paoli said. Technology Industry