Notebooks to retain control in Asia: IDC
SINGAPORE – Notebook computers will be able to hold their own against Apple’s iPad and other tablet devices in the Asia-Pacific region, technology industry analysts IDC said on July 20.
Regional personal computer (PC) sales in the second quarter this year grew 36 percent year-on-year, an IDC statement said, one percentage point below IDC analysts’ forecasts,
“Portable PC shipments in markets like China and Indonesia came in short of our aggressive forecasts this quarter,” said IDC analyst Bryan Ma.
Dipping notebook sales were offset by stronger-than-expected desktop shipments.
But Ma was convinced that notebooks would continue to drive regional PC sales and weather competition posed by tablets such as the wildly popular iPad.
Apple announced on July 19 that the iPad would go on sale in nine more countries last week including Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore, after going on sale earlier in Australia and Japan.
“Heavy demand for notebooks will still be a key driver in the upcoming years despite potential competitive pressure coming from media tablets like Apple’s iPad,” Ma stated.
Chinese computer maker Lenovo continued to lead in the region with a 20.3pc market share, while Hewlett-Packard continued its downward slide with 11.6pc compared with 14.1pc in the previous quarter, IDC said.
Dell held 9.6pc market share and Acer garnered 8.7pc, it added. – AFP
