The PC market in Western Europe is showing significant slowing, dropping 20.5% year-over-year to 12.3 million units in the first quarter of 2013, according to research from Gartner.
The results were, "the worst quarterly decline in Western Europe since Gartner started tracking PC shipments in this region," according to lead researcher Meike Escherich. Gartner released its report today.
Among PC suppliers, Acer saw the largest percentage drop in the region year-over-year, declining 36.8% to 1.44 million units in the first quarter. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 0.86%) remains the leading supplier of PCs in the region, holding a 19.7% market share. However, HP's shipment volumes declined nearly 32% compared to last year, to 2.42 million units in Q1, Gartner's research indicates.
Mobile PCs saw the largest declines in Western Europe in the period, dropping 24.6%, followed closely by a 23.7% drop in the consumer PC market. "The PC is the first to fall by the wayside as usage patterns shift toward smartphones and tablets," Escherich was quoted as saying.
Of the five named PC makers included in Gartner's research, only Chinese vendor Lenovo (LNVGY 0.05%) and U.S.-based Apple (AAPL 5.98%) experienced PC shipment growth in Q1, 7.2% and 0.8% respectively.
