PC shipments in Western Europe have fallen by 11.4 percent to 14.8 million units in the third quarter of 2011, according to preliminary figures from Gartner.

The market was hit by the decline of netbooks compared with the same quarter last year, and by Acer's. Of the major European countries, only France did relatively well, with a 2.1 percent decline. That was thanks mainly to Asus increasing its shipments in that country by 44.4 percent, and the strength of the French professional market, which grew by 10 percent.

"The results … make unpleasant reading for the PC industry, as the third quarter is traditionally a strong consumer quarter, driven by back-to-school sales,” principal analyst Meike Escherich said in a statement. In Western Europe, HP retained the top spot, shipping 3.4 million units for a market share of 22.7 percent. Although shipments fell by 7.5 percent, HP increased its market share by 0.9 percentage points.