Report: PC sales dip in Western Europe in second quarter

As tablet sales continue to pick up steam in Western Europe, PC shipments in the region slipped during the second quarter of 2011, according to recent figures from research firm Gartner.

Analysts with the firm estimate that nearly 12.7 million PCs shipped during the second quarter. However, weak demand from both consumer and enterprise markets led to a year-over-year sales decline of 18.9 percent.

The mobile PC market, in particular, suffered a serious blow during the quarter, with sales dropping 20.4 percent year-over-year. This could be expected, however, given the sudden rise of tablet sales, which have displaced much of the sales of netbooks and other laptop computers.

"The much-anticipated uptake in the professional segment, in the wake of migration to Windows 7, was subdued by the negative economic outlook," says Gartner principal analyst Meike Escherich. "PC shipments in the professional segment declined 9 percent in the second quarter of 2011. The biggest decline continued to come from the consumer segment, which decreased 27 percent year-on-year."

Research firm IDC also estimates slower PC sales this year, with global shipments increasing only 4.2 percent. However, next year, the analysis firm expects sales to rebound with the introduction of next-generation chips and discounted equipment prices.