Taipei - Taiwan's personal computer shipments fell 19 per cent in the first quarter from the preceding three months, the Taipei Times daily reported Tuesday.

Shipments of Taiwan-made PCs dropped to 558,389 units in January- March, the daily quoted the international market researcher agency International Data Corp (IDC) as saying.

Desktop PCs saw a quarter-on-quarter 20-per-cent drop to 346,102 units shipped in the first quarter, while notebook PCs posted a 17- per-cent decline, IDC said.

Taiwan's notebook PC shipments were still up 42 per cent from the year-ago quarter, due to the launch of low-priced laptops and desktop PC users switching to laptops.

IDC said that political instability, surging oil prices and a weakening US economy upset consumer confidence in an already slack season, causing Taiwan's PC shipments to fall in the first quarter. (dpa)