Indian PC market sees steady growth

DQW News Bureau New Delhi, Sep 26

Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT)

announced the findings of its Quarterly Industry Performance Review for the

quarter April-June of fiscal 2007-08. PC sales including desktops and laptops

crossed 17 lakh units. As strong macroeconomic conditions and upbeat market

sentiment continue, sales in the second quarter are expected to be buoyant. The

desktop sales in FY 2007-08 are expected to cross 62.5 lakh units.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Vinnie Mehta, Executive

Director, MAIT said, "Apart from these traditional sectors, high

consumption was also witnessed in SMEs, education, retail and other

computer-centric small enterprises. In addition, the trend of increased PC

purchase in households, smaller towns and cities as witnessed over the last few

quarters, continued to be steadfast."

Elaborating on the performance of some key verticals he added,

"An interesting feature during the quarter has been the resurgence of the

home market. In fact, other than Delhi and Mumbai, PC consumption in households

exceeded that in the enterprise segment. The education vertical is emerging as

another key driver for PC consumption in the country. Further, while IT

consumption in the retail sector is becoming vibrant, a large majority of the

market remains to be tapped."

The desktop market grossed 14 lakh units in Q1 2007-08, a growth

of 38 percent over Q1 2006-07 (YoY). However, this is 20 percent lower than the

sales in Q4 2006-07. This is owing to the sales peak in the last quarter of the

financial year.

In the desktop market, banks, financial institutions, insurance

companies, educational institutes, IT sector and IT related companies in the

business segment were primarily the lead consumers; while in the household

segment, reduced prices coupled with applications for 'entertainment' and

'education' have fuelled the market.

Notebook sales touched 3,67,000 units recording 104 percent YoY

growth and 63 percent sequential growth. The high growth in notebook consumption

can be attributed to the drop in notebook prices and the additional benefit of

mobility and space management.