Sales of personal computers in Asia-Pacific outside Japan surged 38 per cent last year to about 20 million units on strong buying in the Chinese and South Korean markets, an industry monitor said Wednesday.

In the December quarter, sales rose 34 per cent to 5.4 million units from the previous year, but grew by only two per cent from the preceding quarter, International Data Corp. (IDC) said in a report.

Strong buying in China and South Korea powered (he sales, said II )C. which tracks industry developments.

Sales in South Korea soared

75.26 per cent to 3.8 million units in 2000, compared with 2.19 million in 1999.

India saw 7.1 million personal computers sold in 2000, up 45.18 per cent on the previous year.

Computer sales are expected to remain strong this year "as the primary growth drivers remain rooted in factors such as low penetration rates and the PC being the main Internet access device."

Sales were sluggish in so-called mature markets such as Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan due to economic and political problems which inhibited consumers from replacing their personal computers or buying a second one. it said.