Chinese PC maker Lenovo took the crown in the global PC market in 2018, followed by US-based companies HP and Dell, according to data from consultancy Gartner released on Thursday.

Lenovo held an 22.5 percent share of the global PC market, with shipments of 58.467 million units in 2018. The figures were higher than 2017's 20.8 percent and 54.669 units.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, Lenovo's PC shipments went up 5.9 percent, reaching 16.628 million units and market share raised to 24.2 percent from 21.9 percent in the same period of 2017.

Lenovo has recorded three consecutive quarters of double-digit year-over-year shipment growth, Gartner said.

Respective shares of HP and Dell were 21.7 percent and 16.2 percent in the global PC market in 2018, and their shipments were 56.332 million units and 41.911 million units, respectively.

Worldwide PC shipments stood at 259.4 million units in 2018, down 1.3 percent from 2017, marking the seventh straight year of decline, but a less steep drop compared with the past three years.

PC shipments to the US, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Asia-Pacific markets were 14.2 million units, 20.9 million units and 24.2 million units respectively in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Gartner's senior principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said the majority of the PC shipment decline in 2018 was due to weak consumer PC shipments. Consumer shipments accounted for approximately 40 percent of PC shipments in 2018 compared with 49 percent in 2014.

The market stabilization in 2018 was attributed to consistent business PC growth, driven by Windows 10 upgrades.