Lenovo recaptures PC sales crown
Mainland giant fights off rivals to lead in market share despite austerity measures
Mainland technology giant Lenovo Group, challenged by the nation's austerity programme and aggressive multinationals such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), regained the No1 market-share position in Asia-Pacific personal computer sales during the second quarter.
Estimates from research firm Gartner show Lenovo shipped 870,700 PCs from April to June, giving it 10.5 per cent of the regional market. The firm had a 22.3 per cent year-on-year rise in desktop and notebook computer sales.
It was a solid comeback for Lenovo after HP moved ahead of the Chinese manufacturer in the first quarter. HP shipped 853,400 PC units in the second quarter, 34.6 per cent more than in the same period last year, earning it 10.3 per cent of the regional market.
Competition remained fierce for Lenovo, not all of it from international vendors. Other mainland computer makers delivered solid performances during the quarter.
Mainland firm Founder Electronics, for example, chimed in with a whopping 70.7 per cent year-on-year rise in sales, shipping 350,000 PCs to claim 4.2 per cent of the regional market.
Aggregate Asia-Pacific PC sales rose 16.5 per cent in the second quarter to 8.26 million units from 7.09 million units in the same period last year, according to Gartner.
Analysts said markets in China, India and Thailand continued to drive PC sales across the Asia-Pacific. PC shipments from the three countries made up 60 per cent of the PCs sold in the second quarter.
Not even the recent economic austerity measures in China could slow sales, as demand from the education and government sectors remained vibrant.
'With many of China's students beginning their summer vacation in June, vendors started their summer promotions early this year,' Gartner principal analyst for hardware and systems Simon Ye said.
Lenovo continued to dominate the mainland in the second quarter, with 23 per cent of the PC market. Second-ranked Founder had 9.3 per cent.
Texas-based Dell maintained its No3 position in China, with 7.2 per cent. Gartner said China's second-quarter PC sales increased 20 per cent year on year as the top PC brands took share away from smaller players and low-cost 'white box' vendors.
Hong Kong's PC market grew 18.1 per cent last quarter on strong notebook sales. Gartner credited mobile specialists such as BenQ and Asus with priming demand.
Gartner principal analyst for hardware and systems in Hong Kong Annie Chung forecast notebook PCs would out-sell desktop computers in the city this year.
The top five PC vendors in Hong Kong were IBM, HP, Dell, Acer and NEC.
Although IBM still enjoyed a robust 25.8 per cent local market share, NEC sales rose 89.8 per cent in the second quarter.
