The Asia-Pacific PC market grew 38 per cent in the three months to the end of March compared to the same period a year ago, a report by IDC has found.
Preliminary results show the regional market (excluding Japan) grew 1 per cent from the previous quarter, while its year-on-year growth hit 38 per cent – almost 5 per cent more than forecasted.
Similar results were found by rival analyst firm Gartner, which said PC shipments were expected to grow 22 per cent from last quarter but exceeded expectations by growing to 27.4 per cent compared to the same time last year.
IDC director of Devices and Peripherals Research, Bryan Ma, said although there was an interest in tablets this quarter, it was demand for online connectivity in Asia that drove the PC market.
“Regardless of whether consumers really latch onto tablets later this year or not, the need for consumers in Asia to be connected is tremendous enough to keep pushing the PC market ahead,” he said in a statement.
As shown in the previous quarter, the uptake of mobile PCs continues to drive the market and is at the forefront of the growth of the Australian PC market where notebook sales increased.
Across the region, Lenovo and HP ranked number one and two respectively for Q1 PC market share - both sustaining their top position from last quarter.
ASUS however showed the most increase in market share, due to its success in China.
Asia-Pacific (ex. Japan) market share for 1Q10:
- Lenovo – 19.0%
- HP – 14.2%
- Dell – 9.9%
- Acer – 9.6%
- ASUS – 6.3%
- Others – 41.0%