15 Lakh Is Not Enough

Is the Indian market growing the way we want it to grow, or has the potential
to grow? I am not sure, considering that according to recent survey on the
Indian PC market by IDC, in the April-June period of this financial year, only
about 15 lakh PCs, including desktops and notebooks were sold. And this was a 22
percent unit growth, over the same period last year. In fact, almost 56 lakh PCs
were sold last year, and therefore, at this rate there will be about 60 lakh PCs
sold this year. That will not be too impressive.

However, there are some good signs that should boost our morale. For
instance, Indian users are clearly going for the latest technology options, even
if it means paying extra. Which means they now are open to paying more for
solutions that will give them an edge. Most channel partners had already hit
rock bottom margins by selling desktops. With notebook sales picking up, there
will be relief at least for some more time.

The small and medium enterprises, education and consumer segments were the
main drivers, and would continue to be so for the notebook category. Fortunately
for channel partners, these markets are where they have to establish themselves.

An interesting finding of the survey was that North India, which includes
NCR, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, emerged as the largest market for both desktops
and notebook PCs. This was followed by the South and West India. Clearly, the
market is now beyond the metros and big cities. The vendors will need a lot of
support from channel partners to establish themselves in these markets.

One very encouraging finding is that the share of East India (which has
Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and the northeast states) share is
steadily rising, and has now touched 11.6 percent of  the total market.
This region was a mere seven percent of the national market, only three years
back. Clearly, new markets are opening up and expanding. While PC growth might
not be too great, it's going to benefit the channel partners for sure.