PC sales up by 11 percent in Asia Pacific, says IDC
PC sales have been struggling in the US and Europe but the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) saw an 11 percent growth in shipments to 119 million units last year, according to American research company IDC. This was 3 percent ahead of forecasts. Further, while sales in this year's first quarter are expected to take a knock due to disk drive shortages following the floods in Thailand, IDC is predicting "close to 10 percent growth" in 2012.
Traditionally, this region's results have been greeted with "who cares?", but Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) now comprises a third of global PC sales of 352.4 million units. Next year, the region should be twice the size of the floundering US market.
China's Lenovo held the lead in what amounts to its home market, while the two main companies from Taiwan also did well. Acer staged a strong recovery from troubled times, while Asus's performance -- 34 percent growth -- was also spectacular. The two American companies in the Top 5, HP and Dell, had mixed fortunes: HP saw shipments decline during a period when the future of its PC business was in some doubt. However, Dell more than compensated by making strong gains.
According to IDC (table below) , the Top 5 PC suppliers in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) were Lenovo, Acer, Dell, HP and Asus. On a worldwide basis, HP is the market leader.
Earlier, IDC reported that shipments in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) fell by 7 percent to 103 million units for the full year (2011). Shipments in the US market fell by almost 5 percent to 71 million units.
