India PC market grows 28% in Q1, notebook demand strong: IDC

NEW DELHI: India's PC shipments notched a healthy 28.1 per cent growth in April-june 2018 with 2.25 million units, buoyed by strong notebook demand, research firm IDC India said on Friday.

On the pecking order of vendors, IDC said, HP Inc maintained its leadership with a market share of 31.6 per cent during the quarter followed by Dell at the second slot (23.7 per cent) and Lenovo at the third position (18 per cent).

The market's "high growth can be partially attributed to the fact that June quarter of 2017 was heavily impacted by the then-upcoming GST implementation", it said.

Notebooks contributed to 61 per cent of the overall India personal computer (PC) market with 45.2 per cent year-on-year growth bolstered by demand across both the consumer and commercial segments.

"This was mainly driven by ultra-slim notebooks, which now account for 20 per cent of overall notebooks compared to 11 per cent a year ago," IDC said in a statement.

Elaborating on the segment-wise performance, IDC said consumer PCS grew 33.7 per cent to 1.09 million units, on the back of promotions and new product offerings with updated specifications and aesthetic designs.

Vendors targeted different use cases and provided schemes such as back-to-school offers with extended warranties, cashback offers, IDC said adding that players launched exclusive models for both online and offline channels.

The notebooks sector contributed 61% to the overall national personal computer market’s year-on-year growth of 45.2%

Commenting on the market scorecard, Nishant Bansal, Research Manager - PC, IDC India said: "Spending on convertibles and ultra-slim notebooks is increasing due to the popularity of lighter form factors that facilitate mobility".

The commercial PC market grew 23.3 per cent to touch 1.17 million units. The numbers were driven by both new and replacement demand from enterprises and small and medium businesses.

Execution of several projects in education and government sector drove the public sector demand, the statement added.

Bansal noted that business sentiment has been improving on the back of settling reforms. This, he said, has spurred increased demand from small and medium enterprises across verticals like manufacturing, BFSI and pharmaceuticals as companies look to expand their businesses and technology capabilities.