The PC market declined almost 10% across EMEA year-on-year, according to figures from analyst firm IDC, with a plunging commercial market offset by the rising popularity of mini-notebooks.

Central and Eastern Europe were particularly affected with a 40% drop in PC shipments, IDC said, while Africa and the Middle East recorded mild growth of 4%. Western Europe declined 2.5%.

Intriguingly, while the commercial segment has suffered considerably, IDC found consumer spending on PCs has shifted rather than shrunk, toward entrylevel systems and mini-notebooks “despite constrained disposable income”. In Western Europe, shipments of portable PCs grew almost 33% in the second quarter of 2009.

Vendors’ commitment to the channel was reflected in their second quarter year-on-year growth: Acer grew shipments 17.8%, while Dell and Asus saw considerable declines of well over 20%.

IDC research manager Eszter Morvay said the continuing success of the portable sector now hinged on vendors’ ability to make use of the telecommunications provider channel.

“The telco channel will continue to play an increasing role in the coming quarters, with both pan-European and local operators taking a more active role in the overall PC business and the parallel uptake of 3G embedded strategies will also clearly contribute,” she said.