Yahoo was the most popular online venue visited from US desktop computers in December as modern lives increasingly revolve around using mobile devices to connect with the Internet.

Yahoo continued to hold a crown it claimed in August of last year after edging past Google in a comScore ranking of online properties most frequently visited from desktop computers in the United States.

Freshly released figures from the industry tracker show that Yahoo websites logged just shy of 195.2 million unique visitors in December while second-place Google saw about 192.3 million unique visitors.

ComScore pegged the overall US desktop Internet explorers at 224,057 million people.

The lead ranking continued to be good news for Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, who moved from Google in mid 2012. But Yahoo still trails Google in revenues and advertising, particularly in the key search segment.

More visits translate into the potential to bring in more money from online ads.

Mayer has made improving Yahoo's popularity on smartphones and tablets a priority as the faded Internet search pioneer is re-invented as a "premier digital media" company.

Yahoo shares were down more than two percent to $39.06 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq exchange in New York City.

Sales of PCs tumble in Asia on mobile competition: IDC
Singapore (AFP) Jan 21, 2014 - Sales of personal computers fell 10 percent in the Asia Pacific last year due to sluggish economic growth and tough competition from mobile devices, an industry analyst said Tuesday.

International Data Corporation (IDC) said sales of PCs fell to 108 million units in the Asia Pacific outside Japan, marking the region's first annual double digit decline.

"The economic sluggishness in big emerging markets in the region adversely affected buying sentiments," IDC said.

"On the consumer side, smartphone and tablet distractions spread throughout the region this year, further contributing to the sharp decline in the PC market."

IDC analyst Handoko Andi added that "2014 is expected to remain another challenging year for the PC market as competition will only grow among the devices."

Chinese PC maker Lenovo retained its top spot last year with a market share of 24.9 percent, although sales fell 9.5 percent year-on-year due to a slump in its home market China, IDC said.

US firm Hewlett-Packard was in second place with a market share of 10.5 percent, up from 8.9 percent as sales rose due largely to an education project in India.

Dell was in third spot with a 9.4 percent market share, as sales dipped 2.8 percent on a weaker China market.

It was trailed by Taiwan's Acer and ASUS with a market share of 8.1 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, according to IDC.

The decline in sales was sharpest for the Taiwan PC makers.

Sales for Acer fell by a whopping 28.6 percent as the company continued "to struggle with its product strategy," IDC said. ASUS sales were down by 13.4 percent.