The Asia Pacific personal computer (PC) market is estimated to grow 20.3 percent to reach 114.6 million unit shipments in 2010, said Gartner Tuesday.
According to the research house, spending on PCs in the region is forecast to grow 12.4 per cent in 2010, compared to only 2.9 per cent in 2009, due to a sharper decline in average selling prices for PCs in 2009.
"While overall growth in Asia Pacific was strong in 2009, at a country level India and the more mature markets with high PC penetration exhibited weak PC shipments," said Lillian Tay, principal research analyst at Gartner. "However, the improving worldwide economy should lead to better confidence to invest in 2010, especially in Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore. Similarly in India, PC buyers are now more confident to spend, with employment on the upswing."
China leading PC growth in Asia Pacific
Gartner expects China to represent 60 per cent of all PCs shipped in Asia Pacific and 19 per cent of PC shipments worldwide in 2010.
In 2009, PC unit growth was spearheaded by China and the South Asian Markets, said Gartner. China took 59 per cent of all PCs shipped in the region, up from 54 per cent in 2008, the advisory firm noted. In 2010, government stimulus programs, including stimulation of domestic consumption, helped to mitigate the adverse effect of the US and European recessions on these export-oriented economies, said Gartner.
PC shipment growth in China is expected to reach 22.1 per cent, said Gartner, adding that government and education segments will have the most stable demand in the professional market.
The government announced early this year that it will try to increase education spending to four per cent of 2010 GDP and is focused on creating opportunities in schools and kindergartens using PCs, Gartner added.
In addition, the Chinese government is also looking inward in stimulating domestic consumption to drive China's growth and rely less on export-oriented growth. Therefore, the government can be expected to promote more entrepreneurship and initiatives to help small and midsize businesses become agile and productive, with the PC an integral tool in office productivity, the research house said.
2009-2014 growth
The entire Asia Pacific PC market will register a compound CAGR of 15.7 per cent between 2009 and 2014, said the research firm. Emerging PC markets will lead the growth, particularly China and India. South Asian markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are also expected to perform strongly.
"In the mature PC markets, we expect stronger growth for 2010 and 2011 as PC replacements gain momentum. This reflects an expectation of increased IT budgets and adoption of Windows 7 by organizations replacing PCs that are beyond their useful life," said Tay.
Mobile-for-desk-based PC substitution continues unabated and first-time PC buyers are increasingly turning to mobile PCs, said Gartner. Mobile PC units will grow 35.2 per cent in 2010 reaching 53.2 million. In 2011, a milestone will be reached where mobile PC shipments will take 51 per cent share of all PCs shipped in Asia Pacific.
According to the analyst firm, Asia Pacific desk-based PC unit shipments will increase 9.9 per cent to 61.4 million units in 2010, largely driven by the success of a rural PC program in China, where 70 per cent to 80 per cent of PCs shipped are desk-based PCs. In other markets it will be driven by the replacement of aged desk-based PCs.
