63 lakh PCs sold

DQW News Bureau, New Delhi, July 19

Manufacturers' Association forInformation Technology (MAIT)
announced the findings of its Industry Performance Review for fiscal 2006-07.
The total PC sales between April 2006 and March 2007, with desktop computer and
notebooks taken together, were 6.34 million (63.4 lakh) units, registering a
growth of 26 percent over the previous year. The buoyant mood in IT consumption
was led by significant growth in notebook sales, which grew by 97 percent, while
purchases of desktop units grew by 19 percent. PC sales are projected to touch
eight million units in fiscal 2007-08.

Demand was highest from the telecom, banking and financial
service sectors, education and BPO/ITeS, and rose also on account of
e-governance initiatives of the union and state governments.

Commenting on the need for a strong domestic IT market to
strengthen India's hardware manufacturing industry, Vinnie Mehta, Executive
Director, MAIT said, "We welcome the slew of encouraging policy measures
announced by the government to promote development of content in the local
languages. The industry is also eagerly awaiting the long overdue policy for the
manufacture of IT and electronics products. This could play a critical role not
only in boosting highly capital-intensive activities, but also in expanding the
consumption of IT goods and services in the country."

Desktop

The North followed by the West led the desktop consumption accounting for 31
percent and 27 percent of the market respectively. Sales in the North grew by 59
percent, while in West it grew by five percent over 2006-07. Desktop consumption
in the East increased by 53 percent accounting for 18 percent of the market, a
reflection of heightened IT activities in the region. The Southern states
witnessed a decline of 12 percent in desktop sales, they

accounted for 24 percent of the market.

Multinational brands accounted for 39 percent of the total
desktop market in 2006-07, registering a growth of 33 percent over the 35
percent share last year. The proportion of Indian brands fell from 28 percent to
23 percent; registering a decline of two percent. Assembled PCs and unbranded
systems witnessed a growth of over 22 percent in absolute unit sales accounting
for 38 percent of total PC sales in 2006-07, up from the earlier 37 percent.

The business segment accounted for 74 percent of sales,
registering an 18 percent growth on a year-on-year basis. While sales to factory
locations and also to small and medium enterprises were poor, sales to the large
establishments witnessed a robust growth of 69 percent. Heightened e-governance
activities led to 126 percent increase in government consumption. Household
consumption of desktops grew by 23 percent, accounting for 26 percent of the
total desktop market, with sales crossing 1.40 million units.

The top four metros accounted for 32 percent of the total
desktops purchased with 15 percent growth in consumption. Desktop purchase in
B-class cities accounted for eight percent of the market, witnessing a decline
of 26 percent. In smaller towns, PC purchases increased by 33 percent to account
for 60 percent of the total PCs sold. Smaller towns accounted for 54 percent of
the market in the last fiscal.

Notebook

Accounting for over 13 percent of the total PC market in 2006-07 compared to
nine percent a year ago, notebook sales recorded a high growth of 97 percent.
With notebooks becoming increasingly affordable, consumption of notebooks in
households grew fivefold accounting for more than a fifth of the total notebooks
market.

Server

Servers registered a growth of one percent over the last financial year,
making for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12 percent over the last five
years. Consumption in small and medium enterprises declined by 36 and 40 percent
respectively; however, this was made up by increase of sales to large
enterprises, which grew by 112 percent.

Server sales declined by five percent in the four metros Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata and by 53 percent in the class INext four cities
(Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune); however, it grew 23 percent in other
smaller cities across the country. The Metro cities accounted for 35 percent of
total sales, while the Class INext four cities accounted for seven percent of
the sales and the other smaller cities for 58 percent.

Peripherals market

Overall printer sales, at 1.49 million (14.9 lakh) units, declined one
percent during 2006-07. Printer sales are forecast to cross 1.8 million (18 lakh)
units in fiscal 2007-08.

Printer market

Consumption of laser printers at 0.44 million (4.4 lakh) units recorded a
growth of 36 percent due to increased consumption across most industry
verticals. Overall consumption of dot-matrix printers at 0.44 million (4.4 lakh)
units in 2006-07 declined by seven percent.

Consumption of inkjet printers at 0.60 million (6.0 lakh) units
declined by 15 percent.

UPS market

The UPS market, with 2.17 million (21.7 lakh) units in sales, grew by 80
percent during 2006-07. Households accounted for 42 percent of the market,
registering a growth of 48 percent while businesses accounted for the remaining
58 percent growing 112 percent over the last fiscal.