PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) totaled 19.5 million units in the first quarter of 2016, a 10% decline from the first quarter of 2015, according to preliminary results by Gartner.

"While the decline in the EMEA PC market is similar to the 9.6% decline seen worldwide, there are some differences in the region," said Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner. "In EMEA we saw many distinct factors cause clear splits between the consumer and professional PC markets, but also regionally between Western Europe and the rest of EMEA. Some PC vendors struggled to manage inventory and profitability in these diverse and rapidly shifting conditions."

In the first quarter of 2016, HP performed better in EMEA than it did worldwide. It increased its market share lead despite a shipment decline of 2.5%, while Lenovo lost market share. Asustek, ranked third, was the only vendor in the top five EMEA ranking to increase its shipments, growing 3.9% in the first quarter of 2016.

Although mainstream professional PCs suffered low demand in the first quarter of 2016, there was continued growth in demand for thin and light notebooks with detachable keyboards – in both the business and consumer segments. The gaming notebook segment also witnessed growth in developed European markets. While these two segments grew in the first quarter of 2016, it was not enough to offset the steep decline in the professional PC segment.

"Despite ongoing weakness in the EMEA PC market, consumer shipments in the UK and Germany were stable, which benefited HP," said Durand. "Professional shipments of desktops and notebooks declined as business buyers continued to evaluate Windows 10 and delayed major deployments until the end of 2016."

In France, consumer spending was more focused on high-definition television upgrades and media center peripherals for televisions than on PCs. "These various trends in major Western European markets reveal that vendors are failing to give consumers and businesses a compelling reason to upgrade their existing PC hardware," said Durand.

A combination of extended year-end holidays, and significant economic challenges in Russia and Ukraine negatively impacted PC demand in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The recent drop in oil prices impacted the exchange rate of the ruble to the US dollar even more than other currencies, as well as affecting economic and political stability in the Middle East.

"All of these factors combined put heavy pressure on the demand for new PCs across EMEA," said Durand. "In addition, the caution of PC buyers in EMEA will likely continue into the second quarter of 2016. PC vendors must react quickly to varied trends among the professional and consumer segments, and fast-changing market conditions. The structure of the devices market and user purchasing behavior has fundamentally changed the dynamics of the PC market."