These have yielded the demand to replace commercial models in the third quarter of 2013. Also, shipment volume of Haswell-architecture desktop PCs running on Core i3 and Pentium processors has begun to rise. Meanwhile, branded vendors were quite optimistic about Haswell-architecture platform which was launched in the third quarter, traditionally the peak season for desktop PCs.

The majority of branded desktop PC shipments have seen growth in the third quarter of 2013, the transitional period between new and older OS platforms where the replacement demand for commercial desktop PCs have been witnessed. Shipment volume of branded vendors like HP and Dell - who have been actively cultivating the commercial market - grew significantly in the third quarter.

Replacement demand of Japanese enterprises for commercial desktop PCs was evidently seen and thus shipments of Japanese branded desktop PCs were relatively strong when compared to other branded models”, said Evelyn Chang, Industry Analyst for Information System.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2013, it is anticipated that desktop PCs running on the desktop-level processors of Intel and AMD will proliferate and branded vendors will continue on price reduction promotions for older models. Some AIO (All In One) models are due to hit the market in the fourth quarter of 2013 as well.

In order to increase the adoption of touch screens, new AIO models to be released in the fourth quarter, will be mainly transformable or double-hinged models with higher ASP. Customers in the consumer market are expected to keep the wait-and-see attitude and price-friendly products are still highly preferable.

In the commercial market, prices are still the major factor to affect the market demand. Nevertheless, the share of desktop PCs in the entry-level and mid-range price ranges is expected to be benefited by the increasing replacement demand for commercial models.