According to the research firm Gartner, for the second quarter of 2012, the total shipment of personal computers (PC) in Asia Pacific registered a decline of 2.6 per cent in comparison to the corresponding quarter in 2011.
At the end of the second quarter of 2012, the total shipment of PC for the Asia-Pacific market stood at 30.3 million units. As per the data provided by Gartner, the biggest decline in PC shipment was registered in Singapore and Korea which recorded a decline of 21.5 per cent and 11.9 per cent, respectively. Other markets like Hong Kong, New Zealand and Taiwan reported a decline of 1.4 per cent, New Zealand 2.2 percent and Taiwan 5 percent each.
Lillian Tay, principal analyst, Gartner, says, “Gloomy worldwide economies have put a dampener on PC spending in the region over the past year. The wide array of alternate products entering the market is also affecting consumer spend, resulting in declining interest in PC spending.”
However, countries like India and Malaysia witnessed increase in sales driven by mobile PC growth. India and Malaysia registered a growth of 17 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively
The Gartner reports that the global mobile PC and desk-based PC shipment declined by 3.7 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.
The professional segment registered a declined for the second time in 2012. The segment declined by 8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 as compared to the same period in 2011. The decline has come over as a result of organisations deferring PC purchases wherever possible and reigning in their expansion plans. For the same period the consumer segment has registered an increase of 3 per cent.
According to Gartner, mature PC markets are struggling to grow as PC penetration is already high. Further, users now have alternative products and services which enable them to do all the tasks which used to be done on the PC earlier. It notes that 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 will be some time before these markets develop.
Tay adds, “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.”
