According to a report by IDC, global PC shipments are expected to decline by 1.3% in 2013 to 345.8 million units. This will be due to limited initial traction from Windows 8 during the holiday season as well as continued pressure from tablets.

IDC Worldwide PC Trackers programme vice president, Loren Loverde, said that the PC market is still looking for updated models to gain traction and demonstrate sufficient appeal to drive growth in a very competitive market.

"Growth in emerging regions has slowed considerably, and we continue to see constrained PC demand as buyers favor other devices for their mobility and convenience features," Loverde said.

"We still don’t see tablets (with limited local storage, file system, lesser focus on traditional productivity, etc.) as functional competitors to PCs – but they are winning consumer dollars with mobility and consumer appeal nevertheless."

Although the PC industry had banked on Windows 8 along with a varied and less expensive offering of ultrathin notebooks to revive demand, efforts thus far have been disappointing.

Additionally, the deficiency of touchscreen components has also been responsible for a limited supply of touch-enabled Windows 8 models.

IDC predicts that PC shipments in emerging markets will rise by 0.6% in 2013 to 207.1 million, and will drop by 4% in mature markets to 138.7 million.

IDC Research ,Analyst Rajani Singh, said that the US PC market struggled in 2012, culminating with a 6.5% year-on-year decrease in the fourth quarter and -7.6% growth for the full year.

"Market saturation, a tough economic environment and weakness across the board, and lack of momentum for Windows 8, which led to 2012 contraction, are expected to persist at least during the first half of 2013," Singh said.

"IDC expects the second half of 2013 to regain some marginal momentum partly as a rubber band effect from 2012, and largely thanks to the outcome of industry restructuring, better channel involvement, and potentially greater acceptance of Windows 8.

"We also anticipate a new refresh cycle momentum in the commercial segment driven by the end of Window XP life support."