The poll, conducted by ACNielsen Asia-Pacific, revealed that with the market being driven by an increasing number of people working from home or using the Internet as an educational tool, 27 percent of the respondents said they would buy a PC in the next six months.

Purchase intent focused in particular on the newest, state-of-the-art technology, while the current must-have in consumer technology was the note-book PC, said ACNielsen Asia-Pacific president Frank Martell.

Up to 30 percent of the respondents owned a notebook PC and 17 percent will replace or upgrade their notebook PC in the next six months.

There was also a strong demand for personal digital assistants, with 22 percent ownership among respondents and 19 percent planning to buy one, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Digital cameras enjoyed the second strongest demand, with 35 percent ownership and 25 percent intending to buy one.

(Shanghai Daily March 20, 2002)