APAC PC market not affected by tsunami: IDC

IDC said that the PC market was not impacted by the tsunami that took place in the end of December. Informing this, IDC Personal Systems Research Associate Director, Bryan Ma said, "IDC does not expect the tsunami to have a large impact on the APEJ PC market in Q1 as the negative effects are mostly limited to the local tourism industry, although the potential spread of disease remains a wild card in the outlook."



Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) PC market totaled 9.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2004, representing a gain of 2% sequentially and 13% year-on-year. According to IDC's preliminary results, the total in the fourth quarter of 2004 PC shipments arrived slightly above expectations, partly riding on better-than-expected desktop sales in large country markets such as India and China. All APEJ countries achieved positive year-on-year performance in the fourth quarter of 2004.



In India, the seasonal spurt in PC purchases was slightly muted this quarter as commercial users postponed their purchases in anticipation of price drops following the introduction of the new WTO tariffs in 2005. Fortunately, Diwali provided an impetus for better-than-expected consumer PC sales. 



Total PC shipments in the region in 2004 reached 34 million units, 16% higher than in 2003. With the exception of Korea, all countries recorded positive annual growth rates. India achieved the highest annual growth rate in 2004 driven by successful entry-level offerings as well as good volume purchases from the government sector.



According to IDC, in the fourth quarter, the top five PC vendor rankings in APEJ changed slightly. Dell moved ahead of IBM to take third place, largely riding on its commendable performance in China, thereby displacing IBM to fourth.