Indian PC market continues to surge, driven by demand for notebooks

Apple posted its biggest quarter for PC shipments in India and share the fifth spot with AsUS

Even as the India traditional PC market (inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations) continued its growth streak with shipments growing 73.1 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in 1Q21 (Jan-Mar), analyst believe that going ahead the PC industry is looking at an uncertain period.

Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India  shared that the second wave has impacted almost all the aspects of sales, add to these the state led lockdowns, which started with a few weeks time limit but are now getting extended for a month. "We feel that the second quarter of the CY21 will also be manageable, but if things continue to be like this, then sales will get impacted in the third quarter of CY21 (July-September)," said SIngh.

For the first quarter of CY21, the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker said that a total of 3.1 million PCs were shipped, recording the highest ever first-quarter shipments to India. Again, notebooks remained the driving category with more than three-fourths share of the PC category, registering a stellar 116.7 per cent YoY growth in the first quarter of 2021. Additionally, the desktop category remained steady and showed initial signs of recovery.

However, going ahead will be a challenging time. Singh said, “Other than the lockdowns impacting consumer sales, delaying government projects, and limiting supplies into the country, there is also a global shortage of components. The tier-1 channel partners of PC vendors are sitting with an inventory of two-three weeks. A healthy inventory ecompases a time frame of five to six weeks.”

He further added, “Additionally, the current COVID situation has also impacted the field teams. While most vendors’ immediate concern is re-joining with full strength, they will also use this time to plan their inventory for the coming quarters, as we will see a further surge in the PC demand when the situation improves in the coming months.”

For the first quarter, PCs were in high demand as enterprises, SMBs, and consumers continued their purchases. Supply has been inconsistent over the past few quarters, and demand continued to outstrip the supply allocation for the country. At the closing of the quarter, vendors were able to manage better allocations from their headquarters. Additionally, the lower than usual shipments in 1Q20 aided the annual growth as it looks more favorable due to the lower base.

“Many companies remained fully remote or had adopted a hybrid working model to manage the growing concerns of the pandemic within the country. As cases continued to rise, a few large enterprises procured PCs in bulk to manage their workforces, adopting these new working models for the long haul,” said Bharath Shenoy, Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India.

He added, “The demand for virtual learning is still strong, alongside a stronger demand for affordable PCs. This is evident from the recovery of desktops in the consumer segment, which grew 49.5 per cent YoY in 1Q21, despite the growing trend of notebooks replacing desktops."

Among the brand who continued to grab market share includes, HP that returned to the top position, replacing Dell in the overall PC market as its shipments grew 102.1 per cent YoY in 1Q21. The vendor also led both consumer and commercial segments with shares of 33.0 per cent and 32.8 per cent, respectively.

Dell Technologies moved to second position with a 21.8 per cent share with 45.4 per cent YoY growth in 1Q21. Dell also slipped to third position in the consumer segment as its shipments declined 49.5 per cent from the previous quarter. However, it maintained its lead in the enterprise segment with a 40.9 per cent share and secured the second position in the overall commercial segment.

Lenovo maintained the third position and recorded 73.4 per cent YoY growth in 1Q21. Lenovo also witnessed supply challenges; however, it was able to get allocations on time that helped it to register impressive growth in the consumer and SMB segments.

Acer Group retained the fourth position with a 7.7 per cent market share in 1Q21, which further dipped from 8.5 per cent in 4Q20. Delayed supplies of commercial desktops increased its woes. While it led the category in 4Q20, it dropped to the third position in 1Q21. 

ASUS tied with Apple for the fifth position with a share of 5.4 per cent in 1Q21. Its shipments saw an 83.9 per cent YoY growth but declined 10.9 per cent sequentially. Additionally, it slipped to the fifth position in the consumer segment.

Apple recorded its biggest quarter for PC shipments in India and tied for the fifth position with ASUS. Its shipments grew 335.5 per cent YoY and 45.3 per cent from the previous quarter. It also replaced ASUS for the fourth position in the consumer segment.