Tech major Asus places big bets on India's personal computer market

India's personal computer (PC) market is better than the rest of the world and low penetration level of the devices offers a good growth opportunity for the Taiwanese tech major Asus, senior company officials have said.

The Taiwanese PC maker has seen positive growth in the Indian market.

Asus India consumer and gaming PC vice president Arnold Su told PTI that "India's PC penetration per household is around 10 to 11 per cent. Which means around 90 per cent of Indian households still do not have a PC, which means it is a very good opportunity for us," he said.

Su said Asus is continuing to invest in India making its product available across the country. "... If you see today in India, out of 750 districts, we have already covered around 450 districts," he added.

Asus general manager for Asia Pacific System Business Unit Peter Chang told PTI that post COVID pandemic, the company has not seen very positive signals in PC demand both globally and in India.

"However, this year... the interest to buy a laptop has increased, so we believe that very soon the market should get back to normal," he said.

"Also, I think India's PC market is better than the rest of the world," he added.

Market research firm IDC had recently said that shipments of personal computers in the Indian market declined by about 30 per cent year-on-year in the January-March 2023 quarter to 29.92 lakh units due to slowing of demand in both consumer and commercial segment.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, 42.82 lakh PC units were shipped to India in the March 2022 quarter.

Chang said artificial intelligence right now is a very important topic for the Taipei-headquartered firm to incorporate.

Responding to a question on India's IT hardware PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme, he said, "Actually we applied for the PLI scheme with our partners, and also we started manufacturing in India."

Chang said Asus will keep evaluating its investment in India and see how it can expand its investment further. "We also hope that if things can be smooth, then we can keep investing," he added.

Asked whether supply chain disruptions have eased for the PC industry, Chang said right now the supply chain situation is already back to normal.