Sales reach new high in 2Q13 due to state-led manifesto.
IDC has reported that PC sales in India grew 30.2 percent quarter-on-quarter, reaching 3.53 million units during 2Q13 – a year-on-year growth of 24 percent, with Research Manager, Kiran Kumar, commenting that “state-led manifesto driven spending on notebooks steered commercial investments in the India PC market” during the quarter.
He added that “roughly one third” of India’s total PC market size in 2Q13 was due to “special projects” in states such as UP, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu; although outside of this, the organic demand for PCs in the country has weakened, while the “rupee slide derailed enterprise spending”.
The consumer market was recorded to have seen a marginal growth compared to 1Q13, with Manish Yadav, Market Analyst at IDC, commenting that while the second quarter had a “sluggish” start in April due to inventory concerns and shipments were slowed in May due to the announcement of new tax policies, “June largely reversed this stillness aided by back-to-school campaigns and loading of stocks across partners in preparation to the impending price hike on account of rupee volatility”.
Vendor-wise, HP recorded its highest ever quarterly market share at 34.1 percent, remaining dominant across all segments in commercial and consumer PC businesses in India; while Dell took the second position with a share of 11 percent, with Yadav noting that “their presence at the entry level price-band has given them much room to drive their volumes” along with its “continued efforts in increasing retail visibility and their effective channel positioning” which he said “was ably supported by their marketing campaigns.” Meanwhile, Acer had a market share of 10.4 percent, leaving it in third position, with the OEM continuing to thrive in government and education projects across the country.
Looking to 3Q13, IDC expects the usual trend of strong consumer buying due to the forthcoming festive season and the back-to-school/college season, with Kiran commenting: “July remained upbeat and we are noticing the growth is continuing into August too. Consumer sentiments have peaked at the right time as they begin to reconcile with the market reality on inflation and related pressures. Retail walk-ins have improved and share of consumer wallet looks to move back to PCs, which is an encouraging sign for the consumer PC vendors.”
Manish, however, added that “the PC business continues to thrive on wafer thin margins and it is still early to comment on the success of new form factors, which were anticipated to drive the overall value of this business”; noting that “demand from enterprises and government remain largely suppressed, painting a gloomy scenario on commercial PC business in the near future”.