Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc. and Acer Inc. have shown better-than-average growth in the weak Asia-Pacific PC market, excluding Japan, in the first quarter of 2012, according to research firm International Data Corp. (IDC).

From January to March this year, PC shipments in the region totaled 29.4 million units, down 2 percent from the fourth quarter but up 3 percent from a year earlier, IDC said in a recent report.

Asustek remained very aggressive in China as well as in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, helping its shipments grow 40 percent from the first quarter of 2011, the highest growth among the top five players, the report said.

Second-place Acer also posted a 26 percent annual growth in shipments, with top vendor Lenovo’s shipments increasing 24 percent from a year ago, it added.

Hewlett-Packard Co. managed to regain some lost momentum in China, though its shipments declined 13 percent year-on-year, while shipments of Dell inc. dropped 6 percent year-on-year, despite a strong fourth quarter.

Acer is scheduled to report its first-quarter shipments and financial results to investors on April 26, and Asustek will release its financial report on April 30.

“While this quarter’s growth was abnormally low, it was good to see that the industry was generally able to work around supply constraints to keep the market moving,” said Bryan Ma, a Singapore-based analyst with IDC.

“Looking ahead, there are still some risks around the economy and channel inventory, but there are also a number of public sector projects, as well as new platforms like Windows 8 and ultra-slim notebooks, that can push the market ahead in 2012,” he said.

According to IDC’s report, Lenovo continued to outperform rivals in the first quarter with a 21.8 percent market share, as shipments for a large education notebook project in India helped it maintain momentum, despite a seasonal slowdown in China.

Acer ranked second with a 12.0 percent share, followed by HP at 9.1 percent, Dell at 9.0 percent and Asustek at 8.2 percent, the report said.

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