Following a contraction over the holiday shopping season, Apple's Mac shipments returned to growth during the first quarter of 2018 amid a deteriorating PC market, according to fresh statistics from market research firm Gartner.

Gartner estimates Apple shipped nearly 4.3 million units over the three-month period ending in March, up 1.5 percent year-over-year. The fourth-place performance gave the company a 6.9 percent share of the market, a figure last seen in the third quarter of 2017.

Mac experienced a downturn last quarter when Apple reported a 4.8 percent drop in sales compared to the year prior.

Mirroring recent quarters, HP finished in the top spot with 12.9 million units shipped to take a 20.8 percent share of the market, up 2.8 percent year-over year. Lenovo followed close behind with 12.4 million units shipped and 20 percent of the market. Dell was the quarter's biggest positive mover, ending the period up 6.5 percent with a 16 percent share on 9.9 million units shipped.

Asus and Acer again saw their slice of the pie diminished with a respective 3.9 million and 3.8 million units shipped, good for 6.3 percent and 6.2 percent of the market. For Asus, the 12.5 percent year-over-year decline dropped the firm into fifth place behind Apple, while Acer finished in sixth with an 8.6 percent decline in growth.

Though not as poor a showing as recent quarters, global PC shipments continued a downward spiral, with Gartner estimating a 1.4 percent contraction from the same time last year.

Apple put in a similar showing in the U.S., a region that accounted for 1.5 million shipments, up 0.5 percent year-over-year. Mac captured 12.6 percent of the market during the first quarter, according to Gartner. The performance landed Apple in fourth place behind Dell, HP and Lenovo. Of the top three, only Dell exhibited growth of 7.6 percent during quarter one, while HP and Lenovo shipments both dipped 4.8 percent over the same period.

Research firm IDC released its own set of numbers on Wednesday, putting Apple in fifth place worldwide with 6.6 percent of the market on 4 million shipments, down 4.8 percent year-over-year.