Indian PC market grows 30% in 2005-06: IDC

Indian PC market grew 30 percent over FY 2004-05 to exceed
the 4.6 million mark, according to IDC's India Quarterly PC Market Tracker, Q1
2006, May 2006 preliminary release. In the overall client PC (sum of notebook PC
and Desktop PC) market, the rankings remained unchanged - HP retained the top
slot with a market share of 18 percent, followed by HCL at 14 percent, and
Lenovo at nine percent in terms of unit shipments. In terms of total desktop PC
shipments HCL led the market in the financial year 2005-06 followed by HP and
Lenovo. In terms of total notebook PC shipments HP was the top vendor.

Commercial desktop shipments in Q1 2006 performed as per IDC
guidance, with a 14 percent sequential growth (Q1 2006 over Q4 2005) and a 16
percent y-o-y growth (Q1 2006 over Q1 2005). This was the highest sequential
growth witnessed in the Indian commercial desktop PC market in the preceding
eight quarters.

"For the large corporate segment, it was
business-as-usual but it was the government and medium business segments which
contributed significantly to this market performance", said Piyush Pushkal,
Senior Market Analyst, PC Research, IDC India. In Q1 2006, consumer desktop
shipments recorded a growth of three percent sequentially (Q1 2006 over Q4 2005)
and 36 percent y-o-y (Q1 2006 over Q1 2005).

Bollywood superstars like Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and
Soha Ali Khan endorsing PCs, featured in the promotions for desktops and
notebooks from HP and Lenovo. "These superstar endorsements signified
new-found maturity in this segment of the market. They helped HP and Lenovo to
notch up healthy levels of brand visibility and also helped in expanding the
overall consumer market for PCs," Pushkal further stated.

The notebook PC market took another great leap in India
during Q1 2006 despite the uncertainty around changes in taxes and duties during
the annual government budget. Coupled with aggressive marketing by vendors, the
notebook PC segment as a whole witnessed a massive growth of 177 percent y-o-y
(Q1 2006 over Q1 2005) in terms of unit shipments.

Pushkal said, "In the consumer market, notebooks are
increasingly being bought for use as second PCs. The buyers are already familiar
with desktops and are ready to migrate to the next level of technology. At the
enterprise level, notebooks are increasingly being looked at as productivity
tools, not meant for the designated few in the organization's hierarchy but
for the larger workforce."

DQC News Bureau