Hardware grew faster |
The growth rate of the hardware market went up from around 14 percent in 1997-98 to over 16 percent in 1998-99. |
Hardware
The Indian IT market sustained its growth rate in 1998-99 primarily due to a
substantial improvement in the growth rate of the hardware market, which went up from
around 14 percent in 1997-98 to over 16 percent in 1998-99.
Personal computers formed the largest chunk of the total hardware market in 1998-99,
growing at an annual growth rate of over 20 percent. This marked an improvement of almost
7 percentage points over the previous year. Strong demand for PCs in hitherto untapped
segments like Home, Small Office and Small Business will continue to fuel growth of the PC
market.
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PC Market grows by a third |
The Indian PC market recorded a healthy growth in 1998-99, with unit shipments recording a growth of 33 percent in unit terms and 20 percent by value. |
Personal Computers
The Indian PC market recorded a healthy growth in 1998-99,
with shipments recording a growth of 33 percent in unit terms and 20 percent by value.
Among the various form factors, Desktop PCs grew commensurate with the market growth.
After staying virtually stagnant in 1997-98, PC Servers grew at a robust 27 percent in
unit terms. Growing demand from banks and financial institutions, especially in the latter
half of the year fuelled the growth in the PC Server market. On the other hand, the
Notebook market remained constrained, registering a growth rate of only 10 percent in
1998-99. IDC believes that demand for Notebook PCs is still a corporate-only phenomenon.
High prices vis-Ã -vis similarly configured Desktop PCs remain the main deterrent.
In a year when the economy was at its worst and corporate investment was
constrained, the Home segment turned out to be the saviour for the PC industry. The
segment grew by an astounding 89 percent, with shipments crossing the 200,000 mark. Small
Business and Small Offices were the other segments that recorded growth rates higher than
the market average. These three segments captured more than 51 percent of the market in
1998-99, up 12 percentage points since 1997-98.
Hardware Market ,1997-98 and 1998-99 |
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Segment | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | Growth (%) |
Personal Computers* | 3335 | 4009 | 20.2% |
Servers (other than PC Servers) | 484 | 421 | -13.0% |
Traditional Workstations | 140 | 109 | -21.6% |
Peripherals | 1107 | 1231 | 11.2% |
Datacom Products | 678 | 913 | 34.5% |
Total Hardware Market | 5744 | 6683 | 16.3% |
* includes desktops, notebooks and PC servers Source: IDC (India) Limited, 1999 |
Hardware - PCs |