Windows 8 fails to boost Q4 PC market

But HP enjoys surge in shipments in the UK in final quarter of 2012

Windows 8 has offered the PC market "no value" since its launch as the market continues to slump in the face of the tablet boom, according to Gartner.

Across Western Europe in the final quarter of 2012, shipments of laptops and desktop PCs dropped 12 per cent year on year to 15.3 million units. For the whole year, the shipment figure fell to 58 million units, a drop of eight per cent when compared with 2011.

Despite the slump, the professional PC market took less of a hit across the region, falling only 4.9 per cent annually, while the consumer PC market shrunk 17.6 per cent over the same period.

Research director at Gartner Ranjit Atwal said that not even Windows 8 or new PC innovations can save the market.

He said: "The shift to other devices has become a permanent trend, leaving the PC market struggling to show value, either from Windows 8 or the new thinner and lighter PCs.

"While PC vendors keep hoping for a PC-plus era, in reality we are in a smartphone [and] tablet era, where tablets are winning the battle for content consumption and smartphones are at the forefront of mobility. PCs are continuing to be marginalised and 2013 will be no different."

In the UK, the PC market dropped 0.7 per cent annually in Q4 to 3.1 million units, with HP increasing both its shipments and share of the market, cementing its place as market leader.

In the fourth quarter, HP shipped 676,000 units, up 9.4 per cent on 2011, taking an additional two percentage points in market share which now stands at 21.8 per cent.

Dell retained its second place in terms of market share, despite it dropping 2.2 percentage points to 10.8 per cent. It shipped 18 per cent fewer units in 2012 compared with 2011, with the figure standing at 334,000 shipments.

Lenovo grew its shipments by nearly half compared with 2011, taking its figure to 325,000 units, giving it a 10.5 per cent market share.