Gartner reports Q4 2011 W. Europe PC shipments total 16.3M units-- a -16% Y-o-Y decline-- while total 2011 shipments are also down by -16% from 2010, reaching 58.5M units.
Clearly consumers prefer to spend their money on smartphones and tablets rather than PCs (despite dropping prices) as Q4 2011 represents the 4th consecutive quarter of shipment declines...
Particularly hard hit in Q4 2011 are the PC markets in Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain, with Y-o-Y declines of over -30%. The UK sees the worst Y-o-Y decline in 5 quarters (-19.6%) according to Gartner, while French and German PC shipments drop by -11.8% and -8.2% Y-o-Y.
Mobile PC shipments in the region are down by -17.5% Y-o-Y, while desktop PC shipments drop by -12.1% Y-o-Y as the professional migration to Windows 7 remains "subdued due to the troubled economic outlook." The consumer PC segment is the worst hit, falling by -18%.
When it comes to vendors, HP maintains leadership over W. Europe in Q4 2011-- even with a -15.7% Y-o-Y decline in shipments (totalling 3.6M units).
Acer shipment declines reach -46.1% Y-o-Y for the period, but Gartner says it "steadied its shipment volumes quarter-on-quarter." Asus shows 1.5% Y-o-Y growth and reaches 3rd place, thanks to a successful portfolio shift from mini-notebooks to the mainstream.
Dell shipments total 1.7M units with a -9.5% Y-o-Y decline as public sector and enterprise demand remains slow, while Lenovo grows by 13.9% Y-o-Y (reaching 5th place in the vendor listings) due to the German Medion acquisition and aggressive pricing.
Gartner predicts the PC market will continue declining further in 2012-- if not due to persisting dire economic conditions, then HDD shortages following the Thailand floodings.
