Preliminary results from the IDC research group (www.idc.com) show that hat the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) PC market increased 2% quarter-on-quarter but declined 12% year-on-year in 2013 Q3 to reach 27.8 million units, 1% lower than IDC's initial forecasts.

China posted modest gains compared to last quarter on the back of improved commercial spending there, but declines in a few big ASEAN markets and continued weakness in most mature markets offset those gains, keeping the overall region suppressed yet again in Q3.

"Sluggish economic activity, exchange rate volatility and fuel price hikes plagued markets in South East Asia, with Indonesia and Thailand bearing the brunt of this pressure," says Handoko Andi, research manager at IDC Asia/Pacific. "And there are still many risks ahead, despite a number of new products being launched towards the end of the year."

Lenovo did well in the seasonally high Q3 market in India, while also improving from last quarter's results in China, but that was not enough for the vendor to arrest its year-on-year decline in the region. Ongoing fulfillment for a very large education notebook project in India and a sequential pick-up in China helped HP sustain its year-on-year unit gains in Q3.

Dell similarly posted a strong recovery in China on the back of heavy channel filling there late in the quarter. Acer and ASUS though, continued to grapple with weak consumer PC buying sentiments across the region.