Rise in Tablet usage has resulted in 20% decline in the overall PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) during the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), compared to the corresponding quarter in 2012, according to a new report from IDC

During the quarter, EMEA PC shipments reached 21.8 million, with portable PC shipments reporting 20.6% decline to 13.6 million units shipped and desktops at 8.3 million, reporting a 19.6% drop.

IDC EMEA Personal Computing research manager Chrystelle Labesque said: "While the PC market continues to suffer from a shift to other devices, the current market expansion to a larger product portfolio and higher number of devices per person continues to support an increase in overall spending on total client devices, which grew by 15% in 2012 and will remain at double-digit in 1Q13."

Western Europe witnessed the highest drop in PC shipments, with an overall decline of 22.5%, while almost all countries reported a double digit drop, as southern European countries were severely affected by weakness in consumer markets.

IDC EMEA Personal Computing senior research analyst Maciej Gornicki said results fell short of expectations in the consumer segment as softness in demand persisted amid a continued shift to tablets and ongoing budget pressures.

"Shipments in the commercial market remained constrained as predicted, following continued economic pressure and slowing corporate renewals after two years of Win 7 migrations," Gornicki said.

During the period, the UK market reported steady growth while Germany performed lower than projected, the report added.

According to the research firm, the public and education sectors across most countries also remained under pressure as they announced cuts and austerity measures, which adversely impacted PC demand.

IDC CEMA Systems AVP Stefania Lorenz said the PC market experienced a significant decline in both regions Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and Middle East and Africa (MEA).

"The PC market recorded a drop of 17.5% year-on-year, reaching just over 10 million unit shipments in 1Q13," Lorenz said.

"The CEE region was the worst affected by market contraction and declined by 20.8% year on year. Desktop and notebook shipments reported over 20% decline respectively.

"The increasing shift in demand towards tablets is key to the slowdown in the portable market, coupled with constraint from inventory in the largest countries in the region."

Additionally, the MEA region performed as per the forecast and reported 14% drop year-on-year.

"PC demand was also constrained by the growing portion of end users opting for tablets, and when looking at the more mature markets, this trend is evident in the power retail channel, where tablet sales have already exceeded portable PC sales," Lorenz said.

Consumers are increasingly adopting tablets for web browsing and emails, and are also being used in the commercial space for BYOD, vertical deployments and/or company evaluations.

However, PCs are anticipated to be chief platform for creation and productivity, while tablets are currently capturing in the consumption area, implying a major change in usage patterns across both consumer and business segments.

According to Labesque, the PC market is in a transition phase with a larger than ever choice in devices, form factors, and various operating system options.

"While apps, design, and branding but also prices in many cases, drive consumer choice, the commercial sector is carefully evaluating all those new options," Labesque said.

"New notebook technologies such as touch or ultrabook generate a lot of interest and traction, but high price points prompt many consumers or businesses to hold onto their current system longer."

During 1Q13, HP topped the list of vendors in EMEA, followed by Lenovo, Acer, Dell and Asus.

According to a report from Gartner, Global PC shipments have declined 11.2% to 79.2 million units in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the 89.1 million units shipped during corresponding period in 2012.

The rising popularity of iPads, smartphones, and tablets is eating into the demand of Netbooks, which could make Netbooks extinct by 2015, according to a new study by IHS.