IDC: A-P PC Market Grew 35 Percent in 1999

SINGAPORE (02/14/2000) - Sales of PCs in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) grew 35 percent in 1999 to reach a record total of 14.1 million units sold, according to a report released today by research firm International Data Corp. (IDC).

The greatest market accelerator was Asia's economic recovery, which boosted sales by strengthening regional currencies and increasing business and consumer confidence. Rapid growth will continue, as large untapped markets such as China and India respond to falling PC prices and growing awareness of the Internet, IDC said.

Mainland China is easily the biggest market in the region, with 1999 shipments of 4.9 million units, 34.9 percent of the region's total unit shipments. Korea rebounded to become the second-largest market, with unit shipment growth of 79 percent over 1998 leading to total sales of 2.2 million units in 1999.

Unit sales in India topped 1 million for the first time, following 42 percent year-on-year growth, placing the country in fourth place after Australia, where the market grew 14 percent to sales of 1.9 million units. The fastest-growing market in 1999 was Indonesia, where unit PC sales were 273 percent higher than their 1998 level. All the countries showed positive sales growth in 1999, and sales have reached their pre-economic downturn levels in all countries except Thailand and Indonesia, IDC said.

IBM Corp. remained the region's largest PC vendor, with an 8.4 percent market share, just ahead of Compaq Computer Corp. with 7.3 percent and China's Legend Group with 7.1 percent. Legend and Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. were the fastest-growing of the major brands and have begun to affect the performance of the big U.S. vendors in their home markets, IDC said. Dell Computer Corp. showed 87 percent sales growth in 1999 as its direct sales model gained momentum.

IDC Asia-Pacific, in Singapore, can be contacted at +65-335-0711 or online at http://www.idc.com.

(International Data Corp. is owned by International Data Group, the parent company of IDG News Service.)Sales by CountryCountry 1999 unit sales (Thousands) 1998 Unit Sales (Thousands) 99/98 Growth 1999 Market Share (%)China 4,937 3,929 +37.5% 34.9%Korea 2,190 1,222 +79.2% 15.5%Australia 1,941 1,700 +14.2% 13.7%India 1,102 776 +42.1% 7.8%Taiwan 1,060 684 +54.9% 7.5%Hong Kong 520 406 +28.1% 3.7%Malaysia 512 395 +29.6% 3.6%Singapore 427 333 +28.3% 3.0%New Zealand 302 263 +14.9% 2.1%Thailand 301 184 +63.3% 2.1%Indonesia 279 75 +273.1% 2.0%Philippines 206 164 +25.8% 1.5%Vietnam 105 94 +12.1% 0.7%Rest of A-P 265 249 +6.4% 1.9%TOTAL 14,146 10,473 +35.1% 100%Source: IDC, Feb. 2000Sales by VendorVendor 1999 unit sales (Thousands) 1998 Unit Sales (Thousands) 99/98 Growth 1999 Market Share (%)IBM 1,186 849 +39.7% 8.4%Compaq 1,035 890 +16.3% 7.3%Legend 1,011 564 +79.3% 7.1%Samsung 813 456 +78.3% 5.7%HP 770 564 +36.5% 5.4%Others 9,331 7,150 +30.5% 66.0%Total 14,146 10,473 +35.1% 100%Source: IDC, Feb. 2000