PC sales are expected to level out, as the market decline begins to stabilise, according to new research from Gartner.

Having lost the market edge against heavy competition from tablet and mobile devices, PC sales are showing a sign of recovery as shipment begins to slow down.

While shipments of traditional PCs decreased by 14 per cent over 2013, Western Europe PC sales only fell by 4.4 per cent over the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to the same period in 2012 according to Gartner, suggesting improvement over the course of the year.

Gartner said that corporate use of PC’s including upgrading hardware has helped to reduce the shrinkage of the market as consumers turn to other devices.

Principal research analyst at Gartner, Meike Escherich, said: "If demand for business PCs is stronger than consumer PCs, we may see the ranking change next quarter".

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