Personal computer shipments in Asia Pacific, a key airfreight commodity, are growing at the lowest level since 2002, according to the latest statistics from Gartner. In line with global trends, the Asia Pacific region recorded fourth quarter 2008 PC shipment growth of just 1.8 per cent over the same quarter the previous year. This amounted to the volume reaching 19.5 million units. The China and India PC markets accounted for approximately 65 per cent of the market in the Asia Pacific in the fourth quarter, and these countries were affected by a slow consumer market. PC shipments in China grew an estimated 0.8 per cent, and 2.2 per cent in India. Worldwide PC shipments totalled 78.1 million units, a 1.1 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2007. In the US, the PC market in the fourth quarter of 2008 had its worst shipment decline since the last US recession in 2001. PC shipments in the US declined 10 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the year, worldwide PC shipments totalled 302.2 million units in 2008, a 10.9 per cent increase from 2007.