The Q4 saw a decline in PC sales in Asia by 5% compared to a year earlier. It should be noted that it is the region's first such decline in a decade and it has come due to the global downturn causing decline in demand.

The data tracking firm International Data Corp said that the fourth-quarter drop in Asia, excluding Japan, was well ahead of 0.4 percent drop in global PC sales for the period.

It should be specified here that since Q3 of 1998, it was the region's first decline.

IDC PC analyst Bryan Ma reported, "This quarter was quite a jaw-dropper -- not just in China, but also in India where economic and channel issues really took their toll. The clouds are darkening in 2009, although there might be some pockets of shelter in the region."

The biggest hit of all of the region's major players was taken by regional leader Lenovo, China's dominant player, registering a 4.4 percent decline in fourth quarter shipments.

A major restructuring including 2,500 job cuts was announced earlier this month by Lenovo, as the company saw a loss in its December quarter.

There was also a regional sales dip by 3.6% in the fourth quarter for the region's No. 2 player, Hewlett-Packard. However, surprisingly, Dell, No. 3 player maintained a strong position with a 15.4 percent rise. Taiwanese pair of Acer and Asustek followed Dell as they saw an increase with 7.8 percent and 26.5 percent, respectively.

A growth of 9% was posted by the region for the full year, which is less than half the 22 percent from a year earlier and the slowest growth rate since 2001.