As reflected the latest research from IDC, global PC sales are expected to face nearly 20% growth this year.

As the research firm found, worldwide PC shipments in the first three months of the year were 27.1% higher than in the first quarter of 2009. So the company expects further growth nearing to 20% compared to 2009.

As IDC noted an easing of economic troubles together with renewed consumer and corporate buying is giving the PC industry a much-needed boost.

The company considers, while the once-growing netbook market is slowing, there's been renewed vigor in the desktop market, with that segment of the industry showing its first yearly growth since the second quarter of 2008.

IDC also predicts mainstream laptop sales to lead the market return this year for both consumer and corporate segments. Portable PCs should hold a 70% share of all PCs sold by 2012.

By the way, IDC isn't alone in its optimistic forecast for 2010 PC sales. Thus, Gartner reported in May it expected global PC shipments will total 376.6 million units in 2010, up 22% from the 308.3 million units shipped last year. Gartner also said it expects worldwide PC spending to reach $245.4 billion in 2010, up 12% from 2009, as the economy improves.

Earlier this month, iSuppli reported that worldwide PC shipments revealed record growth in the first quarter of this year. According to this researcher, Driven by strong sales in Asian markets, the global PC market grew by a whopping 22.7% in the first quarter, marking the highest year-over-year growth in any quarter ever recorded by iSuppli. Shipments in the first quarter totaled 81.5 million units, that appeared to be up from 66.5 million during the same period in 2009.