Sales of PCs tumble in Asia on mobile competition

Sales of personal computers fell 10 percent in the Asia Pacific last year due to sluggish economic growth and tough competition from mobile devices, an industry analyst said on Tuesday. International Data Corporation (IDC) said sales of PCs fell to 108 million units in the Asia Pacific outside Japan, marking the region's first annual double digit decline. "The economic sluggishness in big emerging markets in the region adversely affected buying sentiments," IDC said. "On the consumer side, smartphone and tablet distractions spread throughout the region this year, further contributing to the sharp decline in the PC market." IDC analyst Handoko Andi added that "2014 is expected to remain another challenging year for the PC market as competition will only grow among the devices." Chinese PC maker Lenovo retained its top spot last year with a market share of 24.9 percent, although sales fell 9.5 percent year-on-year due to a slump in its home market China, IDC said. US firm Hewlett-Packard was in second place with a market share of 10.5 percent, up from 8.9 percent as sales rose due largely to an education project in India. Dell was in third spot with a 9.4 percent market share, as sales dipped 2.8 percent on a weaker China market. It was trailed by Taiwan's Acer and ASUS with a market share of 8.1 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, according to IDC. The decline in sales was sharpest for the Taiwan PC makers. Sales for Acer fell by a whopping 28.6 percent as the company continued "to struggle with its product strategy," IDC said. ASUS sales were down by 13.4 percent.