New Delhi: Indian PC market continued on its growth path in
the quarter ending September 1999, with PC shipment showing 43 per cent rise in
unit terms. This was revealed in the latest PC Tracking Program of IDC (India).
According to an IDC (India) release, the quarter was
dominated by intense political activity with the campaigning for elections
during July and August, followed by nearly month-long general elections. This
led to both government as well as business organisations reducing their IT
spending and postponing planned investments.
Overall PC shipments witnessed a growth of over 43 per cent
in unit terms and 36 per cent in value over the corresponding period of 1998. A
total of 301,493 PCs were shipped in the quarter, at a value of Rs 1,355.6 crore.
Table: Indian PC Market by Form Factor, JAS 1998 & JAS 1999
Form Factor |
JAS 1998 |
JAS 1999 |
||
|
Units |
Value (Rs. Crore) |
Units |
Value (Rs. Crore) |
Desktop |
200,148 |
838.7 |
289,440 |
1143.6 |
Notebook |
6,170 |
89.1 |
6,015 |
104.4 |
PC Server |
4,059 |
70.7 |
6,038 |
107.6 |
Total |
210,377 |
998.6 |
301,493 |
1355.6 |
Source: IDC (India) Ltd., 1999 |
Figure 1: PC Market Growth by Form Factor (JAS 1999 over JAS
1998)
Source: IDC (India) Ltd., 1999
PC volumes in July-August-September (JAS) 1999 were
stimulated by the buying spree led by depreciation benefit and festival season.
However shipments could have been even higher but for the local assemblers being
hurt in September by heavy increase in PC memory (RAM) prices.
HCL was the market leader in JAS 1999. The market share of
the top ten brands increased from 40 per cent in JAS 1998 to 43 per cent in JAS
1999. Correspondingly the share of small brands/local assemblers declined from
60 per cent in JAS 1998 to 57 per cent in JAS 1999. Within the top ten vendors,
share of the Indian brands — HCL, Zenith, Wipro and Vintron went up from 49
per cent in JAS 1998 to 52 per cent in JAS 1999.
Figure 2: Market Shares of PC Vendors, JAS 1999
Others include small brands, local assemblers and GIDs. Source: IDC (India) Ltd, 1999