The sale of new desktop PCs has fallen dramatically, according to a new study by a leading technology research firm.

Gartner has suggested that sales of the machines in the first quarter of 2009 dropped by 6.5 per cent, highlighting the effects of the current economic climate and the increasing popularity of more portable computing, such as that provided by laptops and notebooks.

However, statistics from rival firm International Data Corporation suggest that PCs fell by even more, dropping by 7.1 per cent, despite the company predicting an even bigger slide of 8.2 per cent earlier in the year.

HP, formerly known as Hewlett-Packard, is still the global leader in PC sales across the world, with Dell taking second place despite a fall in sales.

IDC was founded in 1964 and had revenues in excess of $2.84 billion (£1.92 billion), with the company employing over 13,000 workers across the globe.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.