Computer shipments in Western Europe declined by 20.5% during the first quarter of 2013, with the only vendors to see shipments grow were Lenovo and Apple, according to the Gartner research group. The latter returned to the top five for the first time since 2011.

"The first quarter of 2013 brought the worst quarterly decline in Western Europe since Gartner started tracking PC shipments in this region," says 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." 

All computer segments in Western Europe exhibited year-on-year declines in the first quarter of 2013. Mobile and desktop shipments fell by 24.6% and 13.8%, respectively. Shipments to the professional computer market declined by 17.2%, while those to the consumer market decreased by 23.7%.