TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2001
PC shipments in Asia-Pacific dip 1% in Q3
HONG KONG: Personal computer shipments in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) dipped 1 per cent during the third quarter from a year earlier to 5.29 million units as economic uncertainty crimped purchases across the region -- even in China -- said market research firm International Data Corp.
IDC said it cut its PC growth outlook for the region this year to 6.4 per cent, from earlier estimates of 10.7 per cent.
For 2002, IDC expects PC sales in the region to surge by 14.2 per cent, on the strength of China and India, where shipments will grow by more than 20 per cent.
If not for mainland China, which now accounts for 43 per cent of regional PC shipments, the third quarter slide would have been a steep nine per cent, IDC said, as slowing market conditions were exacerbated by the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.
China, which has been comparatively impervious to recent global economic gloom, saw PC sales rise 12.9 per cent in the quarter to 2.27 million units -- a solid showing but below IDC's forecast of 19 per cent year-on-year growth to 2.4 million units.
Mainland consumers held off buying PCs as the global economy turned sour and they waited for prices to drop on Microsoft's Windows XP operating system and Intel's Pentium 4 processor, which has proven popular in China, said IDC researcher Kitty Fok.
"It's mainly due to the consumer market," she said.
Still, China's trend-defying strength helped its leading PC maker Legend Holdings solidify its position as the top vendor in the region, as its Asia-Pacific sales rose 6.9 per cent from a year earlier to 660,000 units. Nearly all Legend PCs are sold in China.
However, on a unit basis Legend did not grow as quickly as its overall home market. Legend shares were down 3.13 per cent at HK$3.10 on Monday afternoon.
Morgan Stanley hardware analyst Viktor Ma said the IDC numbers show that China's PC market is easing from its once-blistering growth.
Still, China's relative strength also helped U.S. giant Dell Computer Corp grow its unit sales in the region by 27.6 per cent from a year earlier to 284,500 PCs thanks to an aggressive push that saw it leapfrog South Korea's Samsung Electronics into fourth place in the region, IDC said.
Samsung's year-on-year sales in the region dipped 23.9 per cent, while International Business Machines saw a 19.9 per cent year-on-year decline.
"The current situation appears to be even more severe as corporate replacement cycles are further stretched and any discretionary income is less likely to be spent on buying new PCs," Fok said.
Australia and Singapore both saw year-on-year PC unit shipment drops of 20 per cent or more in the quarter.
Global PC shipments plunged more than 10 per cent in the third quarter from the year earlier, according to IDC and Gartner Dataquest. ( REUTERS ) Copyright © 2001 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.