PC Shipments Grow 20.9% in the Asia-Pacific in 2007: IDC

Taipei, Feb.1, 2008 (CENS)--Total personal computer (PC) shipments in the Asia/Pacific market (excluding Japan) posted an annual growth of 20.9% to reach 66.6 million units in 2007, according to IDC, a major global provider of market intelligence, advisory services etc.

IDC's preliminary statistics show that portable PCs continued to be a key driver, with nearly every country posting double-digit sales growth from previous year. Lenovo of mainland China retained a lead in total PC shipments in the region, although HP's aggressive moves in the consumer market helped it to narrow the gap by nearly 2%. Dell, Acer, and Founder rounded out the Top-five list.

PC shipments in Asia Pacific in the fourth quarter of 2007 grew 1% from previous quarter and 21% from a year earlier to reach 18.1 million units, IDC said, generally in line with expectations, according to IDC.

According to IDC, some markets like India, Malaysia, and Vietnam came in short of forecasts due to tender delays, while notebook PCs recovered significantly in Indonesia as products were able to clear customs procedures more easily than before. Similar to the rankings for full year 2007, Lenovo led the market in the fourth quarter, followed by HP and Dell. Dell has been continuing its recovery in the region, the market intelligence firm said. Acer and Founder were the No. 4 and No. 5 during the period, respectively.

Though some uncertainties are looming such as the U.S. economic performance, according to Bryan Ma, director of Asia/Pacific personal systems research at IDC, the Asia/Pacific PC market is expected to get a performance outstripping IDC's conservative expectations for 16.8% growth in 2008.

China's economic momentum should accelerate both before and after the Beijing Olympics 2008, and notebook PCs are expected to be a hot segment of the market.

Kathy Sin, research manager of Asia/Pacific personal systems research at IDC, said Hong Kong's healthy economic growth should continue to fuel the market into 2008 with little or no problem.

2007 Asia/Pacific (ex. Japan) PC Shipments by Vendor
Rank	Vendor	2006 Market Share	2007 Market Share	Annual Unit Growth
1	Lenovo	17.4%	18.4%	27.4%
2	HP	11.1%	13.9%	52.3%
3	Dell	7.7%	7.8%	22.0%
4	Acer	5.4%	6.1%	37.5%
5	Founder	5.4%	5.1%	14.0%
	Others	53.1%	48.8%	11.0%
	Total	100.0%	100.0%	20.9%
Source: IDC, January 2008.