NEW DELHI, INDIA: MAIT, the apex body representing India’s IT hardware, training and R&D services sectors, today announced the findings of its Performance Review for the IT peripherals Industry for the fiscal 2008-09.

The total printer sales between April 2008 and March 2009, with dot-matrix, ink-jet and laser-jet printers taken together, were 1.61 million (16.1 lakh) units, registering a growth of one per cent over the previous year.

Consumption of UPS declined six percent over 2007-08 registering 1.51 million (15.1 lakh) units in sales. In the case of networking products, consumption of Network Interface Cards (NICs) grew three percent while that of modems and hubs declined forty-four per cent and thirty-five per cent respectively.

PC and peripherals consumption in 2008-09 was adversely impacted, especially in the second-half of the fiscal year, by the slowdown in the Indian economy. With business sentiment gradually gaining momentum, overall printer consumption in fiscal 2009-10 is expected to cross 1.74 million (17.4 lakh) units, registering an eight percent growth. Sales of UPS are expected to remain flat. 

Commenting on the findings of the study, MAIT executive director, Vinnie Mehta said: “Consumer sentiment was subdued due to uncertainty in the economy in 2008-09 which impacted the consumption of IT in the country. While consumption in the first-half of the fiscal was satisfactory, less than expected offtake in sales in the second-half pulled down the overall growth into the negative quadrant.”

The bi-annual MAIT Industry Performance Review – ITOPs, conducted by India’s leading market research firm IMRB International is a survey of the domestic IT market, its potential and   trends. This round of the study involved face-to-face interviews with over twenty-five thousand respondents selected randomly across twenty-two cities in India. The MAIT-IMRB study was initiated in 1996-97 and encompasses five broad product segments — computers, networking products, printers, other peripherals and Internet connections. Apart from the half-yearly review, a supply-side estimation module has also been introduced to monitor industry performance every quarter, alternating with the half-yearly review.

Some of the salient findings of the MAIT Peripherals Industry Performance Review 2008-09:

The Printer Market:

    * Consumption of dot-matrix and laser-jet printer grew five per cent and seven per cent respectively in fiscal 2008-09 over 2007-08. Sales of ink-jet printer however declined by four per cent during the same period.

    * Smaller towns and cities outside of the top eight metros drove the printer consumption registering a growth of six percent accounting for three-fourths of the overall printer consumption in the country.

    * Sales of printers in the top four and the next four cities however registered a decline of nine per cent and thirty-one per cent respectively in 2008-09.

    * Printer sales to the establishment segment witnessed a growth of seventeen per cent. This growth was on account of growth in all the three categories of printers - DMP, IJP and LJP in this segment. The small & medium establishments accounted for over three-fourths of the total printer sales in establishments segment. The large establishment however witnessed a de-growth of thirty-eight per cent in 2008-09 over the previous year.

The UPS Market:

    * The UPS market witnessed a decline of six per cent in financial year 2008-09 over 2007-08. The households segment, which experienced a decline of twenty-five percent, pulled down the overall UPS sales to negative. Desktop sales in the households had declined eighteen percent in fiscal 2008-09 and consumption of UPS is highly correlated to desktop sales.

    * Smaller towns and cities outside of the top eight metros drove the UPS consumption registering a growth of six percent and accounting for over two-thirds of the overall UPS consumption in the country.

    * The establishment segment witnessed a thirty-two per cent growth in the UPS sales in 2008-09. Medium and large Establishments and Office locations witnessed a healthy growth in UPS market during the said period.