Taipei, Nov. 17, 2009 (CENS)--Taiwan`s two leading PC brands, including Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc., have succeeded in expanding market shares in the third quarter of this year in the Asia-Pacific, according to statistics compiled by the industry analyst International Data Corporation (IDC).

The IDC analysis shows Acer as the fourth-largest PC brand in the Asia-Pacific and Asustek the fastest-growing PC brand among the top-five. The IDC crowned Lenovo with a 19.8% market share in the third quarter in the Asia-Pacific, followed by Hewlett Packard with 18.3%, Dell 8.9%, Acer 8.7% and Asustek 5.1%.

Asustek scored NT$28.661 billion (US$884.59 million) in sales in October, up 18% year-on-year and up 22% from the preceding month. The company saw cumulative sales reach NT$181.457 billion (US$5.6 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, down 17.8% annually. An institutional investor predicts Asustek will see sales, operating profit margin increase by 10% and 12.8% in the fourth quarter of this year, respectively, from the previous quarter.

IDC said China has become the growth engine for the PC market in the Asia-Pacific: PC sales in China grew over 60% in the third quarter from the previous quarter.

To expand market share in China, Hewlett Packard has tied up with Hon Hai Precision Industry to set up a factory in Sichuan province, aiming to directly supply products to various provinces, or even central-Asia.

Acer has invited Y.H. Chang, former vice president of Hewlett Packard, to join in its management team in China. Acer chairman J.T. Wang said his company aims to become a top-3 NB PC brand in China in 2010.

(by Ben Shen)