Lenovo top PC seller in Asia-Pacific for 2011: IDC

Overall, the PC market in Asia-Pacific is estimated to have grown 11 per cent to 119 million units in 2011, far better than the global PC market, which posted modest growth of 1.6 per cent.

"The PC market took a number of punches last year, be it from the uncertain global economy or from media tablets that competed for consumer attention," said Bryan Ma, associate vice-president of Asia/Pacific Client Devices Research at IDC.

As for this year, IDC expects the market to attain 10 per cent growth in the region again.

Globally, Lenovo grew almost 29 per cent last year—the highest rate among the top five vendors—to become the third-largest PC vendor globally. Hewlett-Packard, which still retained its lead spot, shrank 3 per cent while Dell, in second place, grew less than 2 per cent. Acer, in fourth, had the largest drop in sales globally, plunging 14 per cent from 2010. 

In Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Acer performed much better, with growth of 38 per cent, increasing its market share from 9.3 per cent in 2010 to 11.6 per cent and making it the region's second-largest PC vendor. 

In the third spot, Dell grew in the region by 23 per cent and increased its market share from 9.4 per cent to 10.4 per cent. HP, in fourth however, was the only top PC vendor to post a loss in the region last year, shrinking in terms of sales by 6 per cent and seeing its market share drop from 11.8 per cent in 2010 to to 9.9 per cent. 

According to IDC, Lenovo not only held its ground in China but showed robust growth in the rest of the region. HP's performance, however, was hurt by confusion surrounding the future of its PC business. Dell, meanwhile, has managed to strengthen its position in China and India.