Singapore and Hong Kong, July 20, 2009 – IDC's preliminary results show that the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) PC market grew 19% sequentially and 8% year-on-year in 2Q09 to reach 19.9 million units. This was 6% ahead of forecasts, and year-on-year growth was finally positive after two quarters of declines.

"What a relief that the market was no longer in the red this quarter," said Bryan Ma, Director of Asia/Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC. "Granted, economic conditions continued to weigh down commercial buying in most countries, but China helped to save the region. Ongoing consumer interest in portable PCs will continue to be the key moving forward, especially as both low-cost mininotebooks and new ultra-thin notebooks help to drive the market into next year."

Portable PCs were once again a major driver, particularly in Southeast Asia. And fortunately, swine flu did not turn out to be the showstopper that SARS was. Lenovo remained the region's leader as it emerged from the Lunar New Year slowdown in the previous quarter, although rival HP posted a very impressive performance in the region as well.

"Singapore's education and government sectors were sluggish, as the public sector awaits commencement of the upcoming respective SOE tenders in 2H09," said Reuben Tan, Senior Manager of Asia/Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC. "Although some consumers stayed away from the PC Show, the Singapore PC market should continue to push ahead in 3Q as student buying via respective universities begins and as new products hit the market."

Kathy Sin, Research Manager of Asia/Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC, added, "The PC market in Hong Kong generally met expectations. Questions still remain about the outlook for the local economy. However, if global economic conditions pick up next year, Hong Kong should move along with it."