Legend PC Sales Surge as Asia Feels Pinch

Top China computer maker Legend Holdings' PC unit shipments in Asia rose 44.5 percent in the April-June quarter from a year ago, but the area is not immune to global PC doldrums, a research group said.

Legend shipped 626,700 PCs in the quarter, an increase of 1.9 percent from the first calendar quarter, according to preliminary figures released by Massachusetts-based International Data Corp (IDC) on Thursday.

Beijing-based Legend, which sells the vast majority of its PCs in its home country, is nonetheless by far the market share leader in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan, and its share increased slightly to 12.1 percent, followed by International Business Machines and Compaq Computer Corp.

The numbers reported by IDC and those provided by Legend do not always match, company watchers noted.

Legend has not yet posted results for the quarter.

Legend, whose shares have slipped on fears of slowing growth and intensifying competition on its home turf, were unchanged on Thursday at HK$4.125.

For the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan, the PC market totaled 5.19 million units in the quarter, an eight percent increase from the year earlier period but flat from the first quarter, as global weakness in the sector took its toll on the region, IDC said.

Globally, PC sales fell for the first time since 1986 on a year-over-year basis during the quarter, industry surveys show.

Hewlett-Packard Co's sales in Asia-Pacific were down 17.9 percent from the year earlier to 204,800 units, which IDC attributed to slowing sales for the firm in India and China.

Dell Computer Corp, on the other hand, enjoyed a 48.9 percent year-on-year gain to 240,400 units, which IDC attributed to the Texas firm's ``aggressive moves'' in the region.

China is by far the biggest PC consumer in the region, with sales totalling 2.1 million units in the quarter, an increase of 3.3 percent from the first quarter and 27.7 percent from the year-earlier period.

The biggest quarter-over-quarter gains were in Hong Kong, which saw a 14.4 percent increase, and Australia, where shipments rose 10.4 percent.

Total shipments in Singapore and India dropped on a sequential basis by 17.6 percent and 15.2 percent, respectively, from the first quarter.

On a year-over-year basis, the sharpest declines in PC shipments were in South Korea and Australia, with falls of 12 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.






People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/