A shakeout in Asia's personal computer manufacturing business is expected to worsen due to regional financial turbulence stemming from the currency crisis, according to industry officials and analysts.

"I think there will be more to come," Mr Paul Chan, Asia-Pacific managing director of US giant Compaq Computer, told reporters when asked whether more computer companies would exit the scene because of the crisis.

Many local personal computer companies in the region had folded in the aftermath of the rapid depreciation of regional currencies against the US dollar since last July.

"What is obvious is that where companies find they cannot compete profitably in any specific place then they will be forced to

take radical action which may result in companies exiting from the market place," Mr Chan said at a media briefing on Compaq's 1997 financial results.

Mr Chan said Compaq, which employs 250 people in Ireland and was reputedly the largest global supplier of personal computers, was unlikely to be hit hard by the crisis because of strong demand and presence in the US and Europe. The company chalked up a 41 per cent worldwide net income growth to US£1.85 billion (£1.39 billion) in 1997.