PC sales increase by 11 per cent

NEW DELHI, INDIA: A rising rupee and slowdown in the US economy may have affected sentiments in the Indian software sector, but the mood in the hardware sector is upbeat. What’s adding to their smile is a rise in the overall PC sales, which shot up 11 percent to cross 32.8 lakh in the first half of 2007-08. What’s more, its projected to cross 72.5 lakh units by end of 2007-08. 

Interestingly, while sales of desktop PCs have gone up marginally, it is expected to reach 55.5 lakh units by 2008-end. But it’s notebook category that’s really pushing the market. Sales grew at 59 percent to cross 6.8 lakh units in first half of 2007-08. These are some of the findings of a MAIT (Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology) study on the IT hardware industry. 

The bi-annual industry performance review reveals most PC consumption now is being driven by the household sector. In fact, consumption in the business sector declined by almost 17 percent, while that of the household sector went up by 72 percent, So far, businesses had accounted for 62 percent desktop sales.

“The slowing down of business category consumption could be because this may not be their buying cycle or no new vertical of business may have emerged. However, sectors like telecom, ITeS, education, etc, continue to remain buoyant. And as e-governance programmes get finalised, sales may pick-up,’’ says Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT. 

The report shows larger businesses which contribute 55 percent of the PC market share, saw a decline in sales by 31 percent. The SMB section grew from 4 percent to 16 percent. This is one of the reason why the overall sales in desktop PCs moved southwards. Also, sale of MNC brands improved by 33 percent while Indian brands registered a decline of 24 percent and assembled ones went down 10 percent. 

Interestingly, most of the consumption has come from the smaller cities as they now account for two-thirds or around 66 percent of the market. Also, while Pentium-IV processors had 68% market share, newer technologies too have made their presence felt. 

In contrast to PCs, the printer market has not been so buoyant. While 6.8 lakh units were sold, there was still a 10 percent decline in sales due to poor off take in the enterprise market. 

The MAIT study shows internet penetration in the top 22 cities was 48 percent among businesses and 18 percent among households.