The global shift from desktops to portable computers seems to have come home to India. After showing strong growth during the previous quarters, the number of desktop PCs sold in the country fell by 5 per cent during the first quarter of this financial year, even as the sales of notebook computers rose by 16 per cent over the same period. |
According to market research firm IDC's quarterly PC market tracker for India, laptops increased their contribution to nearly 2.2 lakh of the total 12.5 lakh branded PCs sold in the country in the June quarter. |
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Year-on-year, the overall PC numbers were up by 19 per cent, while the consumer notebook category, which has seen continued price cuts, saw sales volumes rise five times in the June quarter this financial year against those during the corresponding period last year. |
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"It is too early to say the desktop PC market will start shrinking from this quarter," pointed out Piyush Pushkal, senior analyst, IDC, adding, "It could just be a seasonal fluctuation." |
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The branded desktop market in the country, estimated to touch 50 lakh sales this year, is dominated by foreign companies, like HP, Lenovo and Dell, and domestic company, HCL, which leads in corporate sales. |
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Pushkal noted that almost all the decline in this quarter came from the commercial segment, while the number of home desktop sales remained more or less the same as those in the last quarter. |
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"Though flat on a quarterly basis, the consumer desktop segment was still up 16 per cent during the whole year (2005-06), while the commercial segment was up by 5 per cent in the same period. Even as companies waited for future price cuts on processors during the quarter, the small and medium enterprises segment saw a 33 per cent increase in its consumption of desktop PCs," he added. |
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The commercial desktop market also saw the fast emergence of new players, with the dominance of HCL and HP being challenged by Lenovo and Dell, the latter of which grew at a scorching 80 per cent in volumes over the previous quarter. |
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The sluggishness in the desktop segment is in contrast to the leaping numbers from the notebook market, though it accounts for less than a fifth of all the branded PCs sold in the country. |
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Notebook volumes grew 113 per cent year-on-year, contributed mainly by the 438 per cent growth in the consumer category and the 102 per cent jump in the SME segment. |
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"While affordability has, in large measure, led to this phenomenal growth story, there is another important side to this tale. An analysis by price shows that the highest growth has been witnessed in shipments of notebook PCs in the range of around Rs 52,500 and Rs 65,500. This price band recorded a growth of 391 per cent against the 113 per cent for notebooks as a whole," Pushkal added. |
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