PC market up by 32% in 2004: IDC

According to IDC India's preliminary market findings on the Indian desktop
and portable market, the Indian PC market has grown by 32% in 2004 over 2003.
This is the strongest growth seen in these form-factors after 2000, where the
market grew by more than 60%.

IDC India's results for the fourth quarter of 2004 show that the desktop
and portables totaled 9,34,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2004, to represent
a year-on-year gain of 33%. "The recent re-surfacing of finance-based
purchase options also had an accelerating effect on the consumer desktop market,
which is already witnessing a consistent drop in end-user prices for both the
branded and the unbranded players," added Aman Munglani, IDC India
Computing Products Research Assistant Manager.

Unit shipments in Q4 2004 grew by 6% sequentially and 27% year-on-year.
Portable PCs slowed to almost flat growth for the first time in three years in
Q4 2004 and totaled 56,600 units for a nominal 1% sequential growth in unit
shipments. On a year-on-year basis, the market for portables grew by 116%.

Calendar year 2004 figures also closed on a high, growing 32% on a
year-on-year basis to total at 3.4 million units in 2004. Desktops that grew
28.2%, totaled at 3.2 million units in 2004. Several factors like two rounds of
duty revisions in 2004 contributed to the success of the Indian PC hardware
market. As per IDC's Q3 2004 forecast, the PC market is expected to grow by
28% in 2005 and 26% in 2006, year-on-year.

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