Elections, political unrest affecting PC sales in Asia/Pacific

Elections and political unrest in the major markets of Asia Pacific like India, Thailand and Indonesia are affecting PC shipments, which declined by 11 per cent to 23.8 million units in January-March quarter this year, research firm IDC said today.
According to IDC data, PC shipments registered their eight consecutive year-on-year (y-o-y) decline.
"The Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) PC market declined 8 per cent sequentially and 11 per cent y-o-y in Q1 2014 to reach 23.8 million units, coming in marginally lower than IDC's initial forecasts. Elections in some of the bigger markets contributed to the region's overall decline," it said.

In India, an ongoing education project was postponed due to the upcoming elections, shaving off about half a million units from the commercial PC segment, IDC added.
In Thailand political unrest continued to have an adverse impact on the economy, while in Indonesia, government funds were diverted in the run-up to the elections, resulting in lower commercial spending in PCs there this quarter, it said.
"However, as these markets stabilise after the elections, IDC expects commercial activity to resume in the second half as a result of pent-up demand," IDC Asia/Pacific Research Manager (Client Devices) Handoko Andi said.
On the consumer side, the ongoing distractions from smartphones and tablets and cautious channel intake impacted most markets in the region, especially in South East Asia, he added.

Lenovo retained the top spot, followed by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, ASUS and Acer.