PC sales cross 5m units in FY 2005-`06 

NEW DELHI: MAIT,

the apex body representing the hardware, training and R&D services sectors

of the IT industry in the country, today announced the findings of its Industry

Performance Review for the financial year 2005-`06.






The PC market — Desktops and Notebooks taken together, grossed 5.04 million
(50.4 lakh) units registering a growth of 32 per cent over the last fiscal.

Desktop sales crossed 4.6 million (46 lakh) units registering an annual growth

of 27 per cent while the Notebooks shipments exceeded 0.43 million (4.3 lakh)

units growing 144 per cent over 2004-05.






With sound macroeconomic conditions and buoyant buying sentiment in the market,
Desktop Sales are expected to cross 5.6 million (56 lakh) units in Fiscal

2006-07 while overall PC shipments would exceed 6 million units.






The growth in PC sales, on the one hand can be attributed to significant
consumption by Industry verticals such as telecom, banking & financial

services, manufacturing, retail and BPO/IT-enabled services as well as major

e-Governance initiatives of the Central and State governments. On the other

hand, the drop in prices, especially at the entry-level contributed to a strong

households market.






The southward trend in pricing continued during the year due to technological
reasons and other initiatives of the industry, including the sub-Rs.10,000 PC.

The year also witnessed aggressive market campaigns with celebrity endorsements

for IT products. Significant consumption in the small and medium enterprises

added to the industry numbers. Further, the trend of increased PC purchase in

smaller towns and cities as witnessed in the previous years continued

undiminished.






MAIT's Industry Performance Review - ITOPs, conducted by the leading market
research firm IMRB (Indian Market Research Bureau) is bi-annual and aims to

address the hardware sector's efforts to manage the business environment,

gauge the market potential and consumer trends. Apart from the half-yearly

review, a module has also been introduced to monitor the industry performance

every quarter, alternating with the half-yearly review, using the supply side

estimation model.






This round of the study involved face-to-face interviews with over 25,000
respondents selected randomly from 22 cities in India. The MAIT-IMRB study was

initiated in 1996-97 and leading IT vendors subscribe to it. The study

encompasses five broad product segments - computers, networking products,

printers, other peripherals and Internet.






The proportion of the Assembled PCs — the smaller lesser known regional brands
and unbranded systems, reduced from 41% of the total PC sales in 2004-05 to 37%

in 2005-`06. However, in absolute terms they registered a growth of 14%.

Aggressive pricing from the branded players cannibalised the market for the

assembled PCs. Proportion of the Indian brands grew from 24% in 2004-05 to 28%,

registering a growth of 48%. Though the market share of the MNC remained

constant at 35%, they registered an annual growth of 27%.






The MAIT-IMRB Review reveals that PC sales to the Business segment improved by
33% accounting for 75% of the total PC consumption. Households with sales growth

of 12%, accounted for 25% of the market. Within businesses, sales to the larger

businesses (over 50 employees) grew by 38%; to the medium business segments

(between 10 and 50 employees) grew by 17% and that to small enterprises by 45%.






In terms of the Processor Configuration, PC sales in 2005-06 were dominated by
P4, which accounted for 80% of the market share, while alternative processors

like AMD, Via, Cyrix etc. accounted for another 17%. Consumption of PCs with

alternative processors grew by 139% in absolute terms. In the households,

alternative processors accounted for 26% of the market, a reflection of the

higher price sensitivity in the home market.






As per the study by MAIT —IMRB, overall Printer sales grew by 28% over that in
FY 2004-05. The sales of laser printers recorded a consumption of 0.32 million

(3.2 lakh) units, growing 128% over the last year. The resurgence in the market

for the Dot-matrix Printers as witnessed two years ago continued undiminished in

2005-06. Sales of the Dot-matrix printer grew 18% over 2004-05. Sales of Inkjet

printers grew by 13% led by consumption in households and smaller cities. The

growth projection for FY 2006-07 for overall printer sales is 23%; sales are

expected to cross 1.8 million (18 lakh) units.






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