PC sales in the region grew 18 percent in the third quarter of 2009 over the previous quarter to move 23.4 million units, according to latest market figures from IDC.
In a report Tuesday, IDC said the Asia-Pacific PC market, excluding Japan, grew 17 percent in the third quarter over the same period last year and surpassing earlier forecasts by 9 percent.
Portables continued to be the region's main growth driver, though the market was also significantly boosted by better-than-expected procurements from the public sector in China and Taiwan.
Bryan Ma, IDC's director of Asia-Pacific personal systems research, said in the report: "Even though a lot of the momentum may be coming specifically from China, the enthusiasm should start to spread to the point where the entire region gets off on the right foot next year."
With the launch of Window 7 this week, IDC predicted more PC sales across the region as vendors roll out promotions. IDC added that consumers will adopt the new operating system before enterprises follow suit.
The research firm also expects further product developments in the portable PC space, including ultrathin notebooks and dual-boot mini-notebooks, to spawn user interest even if this may not always translate to successful sales.
Reuben Tan, IDC's senior manager of Asia-Pacific personal systems research, noted that while the Singapore PC market was pulled down by sluggish enterprise spending, the consumer segment "provided some buoyancy" and lifted the overall market to beat previous projections by 9 percent.
However, the fourth quarter of 2009 could prove fluid.
Tan explained: "Natural disasters in other Southeast Asian countries, as well as political uncertainty in markets like Pakistan, could be wild cards for the fourth quarter of 2009."
According to IDC, Lenovo remains the region's top vendor in the third quarter, capturing 19.8 percent market share. The Chinese PC vendor registered a 23 percent year-on-year shipment growth last year.
Second-placed Hewlett-Packard and fifth-placed Asus were the two fastest growing brands in terms of units. Both clocked 46 percent year-on-year shipment growth, with HP grabbing 18.3 percent market share and Asus at 5.1 percent.
Dell Computer ranked third, with 8.9 percent market share, followed by Acer in fourth place at 8.7 percent.
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