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New research from Gartner reveals PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 12.3 million in the first quarter, a decline of 20.5 per cent from the previous year.
"The first quarter of 2013 brought the worst quarterly decline in Western Europe since Gartner started tracking PC shipments in this region," said Meike Escherich, principal research analyst at Gartner.
"Wide availability of Windows 8-based PCs could not boost consumer PC purchases during the quarter. Although the new Metro-style user interface suits new form factors, users wonder about its suitability for traditional PCs – non-touchscreen desktops and notebooks."
Lenovo was the fastest-growing vendor, with a 7.2 per cent growth in desktop and notebook shipments in the past year.
HP and Acer both recorded declines of over 30 per cent and Lenovo and Apple were the only top-five vendors to record growth. Despite the decline, HP still managed to come out on top with 19.7 per cent of the market share.
PC shipments in the UK alone totalled 2.5 million is the first quarter, a decrease of 15.8 per cent.
"Many consumers no longer require a PC as usage of smartphones and tablets takes over," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
HP also retained the top position in the UK, despite losing nearly 25 per cent of its PC volume in a single year.
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