India PC market ships record 3.4mn units in Q3, HP leads.
As the demand for e-learning and remote working remained strong, the Indian traditional PC market (inclusive of desktops, notebooks and workstations) delivered a strong quarter with 9.2 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth shipping 3.4 million units in the September period, a new IDC report said on Tuesday. The July-September quarter is the biggest PC quarter in the last seven years in India.
Although the commercial segment had very few government and education projects, the consumer segment recorded its biggest quarter ever with 2 million shipments, growing 41.7 per cent (YoY) and 167.2 per cent from the previous quarter.
HP Inc retained the top position in the overall PC market with a share of 28.2 per cent. The company recorded a strong quarter in both consumer and commercial segments with a 16.6 per cent increase in shipments when compared to the same time a year ago. HP also remained the leader in the consumer segment.
"Anticipating a longer work from home possibility, enterprises are getting ready for a larger mobile workforce and keep reducing their dependency on desktops. Also, SMBs started showing more momentum and will be critical in sustaining the ongoing growth in the commercial segment," said Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
Unfortunately, shortages of some key components continue to be a challenge. "Vendors that will be able to manage the supplies of these components will benefit from this opportunity more as there is still a lot of untapped demand for PCs in the country," Jaipal added.
In the commercial segment, enterprises continued investing in PCs under their business continuity planning to manage their remote working requirements. However, the volume of key big deals has come down in this second wave of enterprise buying as compared to initial orders in 2Q20.
Lenovo was marginally ahead of Dell at the second place with a share of 21.7 per cent in its overall shipments. The vendor witnessed a 27 per cent YoY growth in the consumer segment on the back of its portfolio extension this quarter.
Dell Technologies secured third place with a share of 21.3 per cent in the overall PC market as its shipments grew 18.2 per cent YoY in 3Q20. "There is still a lot of uncertainty if and when the schools and colleges will return to physical classrooms at full strength. This is forcing students to manage all their learning virtually," said Bharath Shenoy, market analyst for PC Devices at IDC India.
This demand is expected to stay strong as India remains underpenetrated in PCs. "To add to this, the growing broadband connectivity in the country is making online learning easier for students. Hence, this opportunity will continue to be relevant for PC vendors for at least a few more quarters," Shenoy added.
