China Remains as Major PC Vendor, IDC Asia Pacific Says
October 24, 2001 (BEIJING) -- China continues to be a major personal computer vendor, as the main fundamentals driving PC demand have not changed, despite regional gloom in Asia, according to International Data Corp. Asia Pacific.
According to preliminary results released by IDC Asia Pacific, the Asia Pacific PC market reached 5.29 million units in the third quarter of 2001, representing a 1 percent dip from the same period of 2000, but 2 percent growth from the second quarter of this year.
The figures showed that the year-on-year contraction reflected slower market conditions, further exacerbated by the tragic events of Sept. 11.
Legend continued to reinforce its position as the region's top vendor, capturing almost twice the market share of its nearest rival, IBM Corp.
Dell Computer Corp. was the outright winner this quarter, leaping ahead of Samsung Electronics to clinch the fourth position in the vendor rankings.
Contributing to this robust performance was Dell's aggressive push into China in both the consumer and commercial segments.
HP and Compaq both suffered year-on-year declines in excess of 20 percent, despite having made firm inroads into the Korean market.
Although PC sales in July and August were steady or posted slight improvements from the previous quarter, September has sent consumer and corporate confidence spiraling downwards.
The events further perpetuated the "wait and see" attitude adopted by consumers and commercial customers.
Deferred buying became the standard in many countries as large PC procurement projects continue to be delayed.
After Sept. 11, the prospects for these deals materializing in the next quarter are likewise in doubt, as companies take a conservative stance on hardware spending.
IDC's revised forecast assumes that the Asia Pacific PC market will grow at 6.4 percent for 2001, compared to previous growth estimates of 10.7 percent.
While domestic demand growth will not be strong enough to fully offset the decline in exports particularly in trade dependent countries, it will be resilient enough to prevent the region from sliding into a recession resembling the crisis of 1997-1998.
The U.S. economic recovery is expected to be delayed and Asian economies are expected to resume their growth paths in late 2002 or early 2003.
PC sales for the region are forecast to grow by 14.2 percent in 2002, driven by the Indian and Chinese markets, which are expected to grow in excess of 20 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency) |
