The number of personal computers worldwide will increase to 1.3 billion by 2010, up from 575 million today, said Forrester Research, an independent technology research company.

It said in a report that most of the growth will come from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico.

China will see 178 million new PC users, with advantages going to local makers who can tailor products that are affordable, simple and serviceable. Competition for market share will become a challenge to Western industry leaders like Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

"Today's producers from Western PC vendors won't dominate in those markets in the long term," said Simon Yates, a Forrester senior analyst. He believes local PC makers such as Lenovo Group in China and Aquarius in Russia, will ultimately win most market share.

India will get 80 million new PC users, despite having one of the lowest computer adoption rates in the world.

Indonesia will see 40 million new users with a projected 40% growth per year.

Mexico, with a projected 46% of the population owning a computer by the end of the decade, has the deepest penetration of PCs as a percentage of population in the emerging markets

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004