For over one year now, PC shipments have been on the decline. The rise of the tablet market and the failure of Windows 8 contributed to slow holiday 2012 sales and dismal quarters in the first half of 2013. Today a tiny bit of good news hit the traditional PC market, with notebook shipments shown to be on the rise.

DigiTimes Research today reports that notebook shipments from top-5 PC brands grew 22% in August compared to shipments in July. Of course, this relative growth was expected as manufacturers prepared for the back-to-school shopping season. Overall notebook shipments are still expected to be down year-over-year.

The shrinking PC market is also playing havoc with notebook market share. Though HP shipment numbers were overtaken by Lenovo earlier this year, DigiTimes data is showing that HP increased its notebook shipments 50% in August, while Lenovo increased its shipments only 25% month-over-month. HP has been predicted to retake the lead in PC market share later this year, and DigiTimes’ research arm agrees. It cites HP’s new focus on profitability as a driving force for the company’s shipment ramp-up for fall.

The analyst firm also provided a dismal forecast for Dell, which continues to see losses despite lower pricing.

(via DigiTimes)