Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments grew nearly 27 percent in the first quarter this year, with signs of recovery of corporate spending in PC replacements, market research firm Gartner reported on Wednesday.

In the first three months in 2010, global PC shipments reached 84.3 million units, an increase of 27.4 percent over the same period the previous year, according to preliminary statistics by Gartner.

The growth is higher than Gartner's earlier market outlook. The firm had been expecting global PC shipments to rise 22 percent in the first quarter.

"These first quarter results indicate that the professional PC market is gradually picking up, driven by PC replacements in mature markets," Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said in a statement.

"With a relatively positive macroeconomic outlook, business demand was more forthcoming. Major PC replacement demand driven by Windows 7 will become more apparent in the second half of 2010 and the beginning of 2011," she noted.

While all regions experienced double-digit growth rates, the stronger-than-expected increase of global PC shipments was led by a robust recovery in the Europe, Middle East and Africa market, which together grew 24.8 percent in the quarter, Kitagawa said.