(Yicai) Dec. 21 -- Personal computer shipments in China should start to pick up in the second quarter next year, after being on the decline for two years, as the country’s economic recovery spurs large firms to invest more in information technology, according to a new report by Singaporean market research firm Canalys.

Sales of personal computers, which include desktop computers and laptops but not tablets, are expected to rebound 4 percent in 2024 from 2023, but the recovery will not be realized until after the second quarter, the report said. This year, sales are forecast to tumble 18 percent year on year.

As the economy rebounds, a number of government departments and frontier industries driven by artificial intelligence are showing signs of increased investment in IT, said Emma Xu, an analyst at Canalys.

And the tasks set by the central government for China’s economy next year have been extended to include industrial upgrading from the previous focus on boosting consumption, which should boost spending on computer hardware, Xu added.

In the third quarter, PC sales on the mainland plunged 16 percent year on year but jumped 15 percent from the previous quarter to 11 million units. Lenovo Group ranked first with 38 percent market share, followed by the US’ Hewlett-Packard with 11 percent, Huawei Technologies and US’ Dell with 9 percent each and Taipei-based ASUSTeK Computer with 7 percent.

Tablets have been selling well as homes, schools and businesses continue to digitize, Canalys said. Shipments jumped 16 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier to 7.4 million units. The figure for the whole year is expected to climb 5 percent to 28 million units.

Apple's share of China's tablet market slumped 7 percentage points in the third quarter year on year to 31 percent but the US tech giant remained in first place. Shenzhen-based Huawei's share leaped 9 percentage points to 24 percent, while Xiaomi held 11 percent, Honor 7 percent and Lenovo 6 percent.

Editor: Kim Taylor