The latest report on the PC market from Gartner has personal computer shipments in the Asia Pacific region totalling 30.3 million in the second quarter this year – a 2.6 percent decline compared with the same quarter last year - with the most notable decline in China, where shipments declined by 5.4 percent.
According to Lillian Tay, principal analyst for Gartner, “gloomy worldwide economies have put a dampener on PC spending in the region over the past year,” and she also says that the wide array of alternate products entering the market is also affecting consumer spend, resulting in declining interest in PC spending.
Gartner found that the overall decline was reflected in both the mobile PC and desk-based PC shipment segments, decreasing 3.7 percent and 1.7 percent respectively, and Tay says that the professional segment declined for the second time this year, down eight percent in the second quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago “as organisations deferred PC purchases where possible and reigned in their expansion plans, preferring to be more prudent not knowing how the market situation will evolve with all the uncertainties.”
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According to Gartner, mature PC markets are struggling to grow as PC penetration is high and there is less need to spend on PCs than in the past, and Tay highlights the fact that there are now alternative products and services that will enable them to do all the tasks which used to be done on the PC.
“Major cities in emerging markets are also experiencing the same PC penetration issues and though opportunities are there in the smaller cities and rural areas, it takes time for the market to develop,” Tay said.
At a country level in the Asia Pacific region, some of the biggest declines happened in Singapore (21.5 percent), Korea (11.9 percent) and with Australia recording a 9.2 percent decline.
Gartner found that there were smaller declines in Hong Kong (1.4 percent), New Zealand (2.2 percent) and Taiwan (5 percent).
In one positive note, Gartner reports, however, that not all countries faced decline, with countries India and Malaysia experiencing strong growth of 17 percent and 21.6 percent respectively, largely driven by mobile PC growth.
“What is interesting to note is that despite much talk around the introduction of Ultrabooks, consumers did not proactively seek them out in their purchases, which is likely to be the result of prices remaining high throughout this period,” said Ms Tay.
For vendors, China’s Lenovo continued to pick up marketshare from HP and Dell, and Tay says that Dell’s change in its business strategy for better margins gains have affected their shipment levels.
According to Gartner, both Lenovo and ASUS gained market share in the region in the second quarter of this year, but with Lenovo continuing to hold the leading position, with shipments increasing 12.6 percent year-over-year.
“Despite its fifth position, ASUS’ shipments have grown 24.8 percent, bucking the trend for declining shipment numbers in the region.
“Vendors have made conscious efforts to control inventory over the past year, as they get ready for thinner notebooks with mainstream prices in the third quarter of 2012, as well as new Ultrabook product releases with Windows 8 in October,” Tay concludes.
Asia Pacific PC Shipments, Growth and Share, 2Q11-2Q12
|
Region |
Platform Group |
2Q11 |
2Q12 |
2Q12 YY |
2Q11 |
2Q12 |
|
Asia Pacific |
Desk-based PC |
16,305,526 |
16,033,474 |
-1.7% |
52.3% |
52.9% |
|
Mobile PC |
14,843,722 |
14,293,024 |
-3.7% |
47.7% |
47.1% |
|
|
Region Total |
|
31,149,248 |
30,326,499 |
-2.6% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
Source: Gartner (August 2012)
Asia Pacific PC Market Share: Top Five Vendors, 2Q11-2Q12
|
Vendor |
2Q11 |
2Q12 |
2Q12 YY |
|
|
Lenovo |
6,762,784 |
7,616,444 |
12.6% |
|
|
Acer Group |
3,326,210 |
3,284,023 |
-1.3% |
|
|
Dell |
3,115,042 |
2,610,503 |
-16.2% |
|
|
HP |
3,062,233 |
2,484,099 |
-18.9% |
|
|
ASUS |
1,708,379 |
2,132,800 |
24.8% |
|
|
Others |
13,174,600 |
12,198,629 |
-7.4% |
|
|
Total |
31,149,248 |
30,326,499 |
-2.6% |
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded.
Source: Gartner (August 2012)
