PC sales in Asia to hit 11.6m

PC sales in Asia to hit 11.6m

HONG KONG (Reuter): Personal computer sales in Asia-Pacific markets outside Japan should hit 11.6 million units in 1997 against 9.1 million units last year, market research firm Dataquest said yesterday.

In 1996, 7.4 million PCs were sold in 10 major Asia-Pacific markets -- Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand -- and 1.7 million were sold in small emerging markets in the region.

In 1997, the major markets are expected to account for 9.6 million PCs, with the rest of the region absorbing two million, Dataquest analyst Cherry Velarde said.

Dataquest said the Asia-Pacific market grew 36.5 percent in 1996, up from 32 percent the previous year. In contrast, worldwide PC shipments grew 18 percent in 1996, while the United States market grew 14 percent.

China remained the hottest market with 53 percent growth in 1996. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India also showed strong increases, the company said.

Compaq Computer Corp remained the top vendor in the Asia- Pacific region, but by a very slim margin over Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, whose shipments grew much faster, it said.

Dataquest said slowing sales growth in major markets such as South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, which account for more than half of total regional shipments, will affect future sales.

Lack of affordability remained in high potential markets such as China, India and Indonesia, it added.

But continued economic growth and liberalization along with on-going efforts by government and business to computerize their operations would continue to drive growth in the PC market, it said.