APAC PC Market Posts A Double-Digit Decline For The First Time In Q1 2013

IDC's preliminary results show that the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) PC market declined 8 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-on-year in 2013 Q1 to reach 26.4 million units, coming in lower than IDC's initial forecasts.

China dragged the entire region down, as the public sector and consumer space in particular there held the market back.

PC buying sentiments were similarly weak in the rest of the region as well, with Windows 8 not helping push in as much new stocks as IDC had initially hoped, despite older Windows 7 inventory clearing out in most countries.

"The lack of a strong value proposition to buy a PC continues to divert consumer spending towards tablets and smartphones," says Handoko Andi, Research Manager at IDC Asia/Pacific.

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"IDC is encouraged, however, by the work that vendors are putting into bringing out innovative PC designs, especially around touch, as well as the possibility of potential improvements from both Intel and Microsoft later this year that can at least help to make PCs more competitive, albeit still in catch-up mode."

He explains that seasonality (around the Chinese New Year celebrations) and constrained public sector spending in China hurt Lenovo this quarter, causing the vendor to lose share sequentially.

HP's big education project win in India helped it improve share in an otherwise declining quarter in the region.

Dell had a better quarter, says Andi, as it recovered some lost ground in its two big markets China and India.

Acer, though, continued to struggle in the region, with its traditional leadership in the entry-level segments being consistently challenged by competition.