A sales assistant checks a Lenovo laptop at an electronics store in Nantong, Jiangsu province. The Chinese PC maker has shipped at least 12.6 million PCs in the second quarter of the year. [Photo / Provided to China Daily]

Lenovo Group Ltd overtook Hewlett-Packard Co in the second quarter to become the world's largest personal computer maker by shipment volume, even as the industry continued to experience a record decline, international research firms IDC and Gartner said on Thursday.

Lenovo shipped at least 12.6 million PCs in the second quarter while HP delivered about 12.4 million, figures from both consultancies show.

Global PC shipments slumped 10.9 percent year-on-year to 76 million units in the period, the fifth consecutive quarter of declines, according to Gartner.

"We are seeing the PC market reduction directly tied to the shrinking installed base of PCs, as inexpensive tablets displace the low-end machines used primarily for consumption in mature and developed markets," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.

Nonetheless, Lenovo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing is determined to pursue profit growth in the struggling industry. Yang said he was pleased that even in the toughest PC market ever, Lenovo was still able to gain market share and improve profitability.

"The battle for PC leadership could certainly still go back and forth. But I am fully confident that there remains substantial room for profitable growth and groundbreaking innovation in the global PC marketplace," said Yang.

Lenovo grabbed 16.7 percent of the worldwide market in the last quarter, surpassing long-time leader HP, according to IDC and Gartner. The United States-based company now has about 16.4 percent of the market.

Regionally, however, it's a mixed picture for the Chinese company.

Lenovo's business in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East saw steady growth while its Asia-Pacific business declined, said IDC.