The third quarter sales represented a 12 per cent rise from the previous year and a 9.0 per cent increase compared with the second quarter, with strong demand for portable PCs driving the market, IDC said in a statement.

'While we have not seen any dramatic slowdown in orders in the past few weeks due to the recent financial crisis, Asia's PC markets nonetheless have been a bit soft due to the ongoing economic conditions that have been in play for a number of months now,' said IDC analyst Bryan Ma.

'The latest rollercoaster ride in the global financial markets casts further uncertainty, especially if it eventually starts to pinch Asia's PC demand in the upcoming quarters.'

He said however that 'domestic demand in key markets like China will continue to help carry the markets next year, even if not as dramatically as before.'

Asian economies are expected to achieve slower growth this year and nextdue to a global financial crisis which has already slowed the US economy, analysts said. -- AFP