APAC PC market fell first time in 10 years
ConvergenceAsia staff
19/01/2009

According to preliminary results from research firm IDC, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) client PC market fell 14 per cent sequentially and 5 per cent year-on-year to reach 17.2 million units in 4Q08. This was the first year-on-year decline in the region since 3Q98 when the region was suffering from the Asian Financial Crisis.

Key markets like China did not exhibit as much domestic demand in 4Q08 as initially expected, thus dragging the regional market below forecasts by 13 per cent. Moreover, a barrage of dismal global economic news over the course of the quarter further impacted market sentiment and escalated cautiousness across the region.

"This quarter was quite a jaw-dropper – not just in China, but also in India where economic and channel issues really took their toll," said Bryan Ma, Director of Asia/Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC. "The clouds are darkening in 2009, although there might be some pockets of shelter in the region's public sector."

Despite the gloomy economic conditions in 4Q08, the results at the SITEX show in Singapore were even better than the previous year. In the commercial space, the private sector was slow, but the public sector managed to bolster the market, said Reuben Tan, Senior Manager of Asia/Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC.

"We believe that the Singapore PC market will continue to slow down and will only see more activities after the Chinese New Year holidays, especially with fresh student notebook buying programs in March," Tan added.

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