Sequential shipment growth in the third quarter of 2009 paled in comparison with the previous years and demand for desktop PCs also weakened considerably. Looking at overall PC shipment performance in the third quarter of 2009, consumer demand for PCs still managed to remain stable. However, with the replacement of desktop PCs with notebook PCs becoming a trend, especially in developed countries of Western Europe, North America, and Japan, emerging markets such as China and Asia Pacific regions have become major markets for desktop PCs. Therefore, desktop PC development in emerging markets has a positive correlation with the development in the worldwide desktop PC market.