China's personal computer (PC) market is expected to grow 11.7 percent annually over the next five years, said International Data Corporation (IDC) in a report released on Friday.

IDC, an American company engaged in market investigations, predicts that China's PC sales will reach 32.94 million computers in 2010, maintaining its leading position in the Asian PC market.

Statistics show that China registered PC sales of more than 19.04 million computers in 2005, an increase of 19.6 percent over the previous year, accounting for 46.2 percent of the whole Asian market.

IDC said lap-tops will continue to be the sector with the fastest growth and the compound annual growth rate of lap-tops is expected to reach 23.7 percent.

Wang Jiping, a senior analyst with IDC, said just like mobile phones, lap-tops will become an indispensable product for Chinese people, noting that the integration of its commercial use and home use is the developing trend of the sector.

He said PC investors will see more opportunities in the west and the northern part of China in the coming years.

In spite of more development potential, small and medium-sized PC companies will still face challenges of merging and regrouping to combat fierce competition. Alliance and cooperation are effective ways for PC companies to seek technology breakthroughs, Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2006)