Asia-Pacific PC shipments fall for first time in 2012

HONG KONG Jan 18 (Reuters) - Shipments of personal computers in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, fell for the first time in 2012, contracting 2 percent to 121 million units due to the global economic slowdown and increased use of mobile devices, research firm IDC said.

IDC said on Friday global PC shipments were down 7 percent.

"Initiatives such as Ultrabooks and Windows 8 haven't reinvigorated the PC market as much as the industry had hoped," Avinash Sundaram, a senior IDC analyst, said in a statement.

"In light of this softness, IDC expects growth to remain muted in the upcoming years."

In November, IDC had forecast shipments in the Asia-Pacific market would rise 4 percent in 2013. That forecast is expected to be updated in February.

Last year, Lenovo Group Ltd remained the top vendor in the $60 billion Asia Pacific PC market with a market share of 24.6 percent due to strong sales in China and India, where it is the No.1 vendor.

Acer Inc was second in the region with a 10.1 percent share, followed by Hewlett Packard Co and Dell Inc, IDC said.