PC market grew by 29% in 2004-05: IDC  Â

The Indian PC market has logged in 29% growth in terms of unit shipments for
the financial year 2004-05 to exceed the 3.6 million mark, according to IDC.
This was marginally above the total forecast unit shipments of 3.5 million in
IDC India's Quarterly PC Market Tracker report of AMJ 2004.

HCL led the desktop market in the financial year with shipments of over 4.75
lakh units. HP led the notebook PC market with shipments in excess of 75,000
units. However, for the overall PC market, it claimed the number one spot,
followed by HCL and IBM in that order.

According to IDC, the market was fueled by a strong demand from the notebook
and consumer desktop markets. During 1Q05, the Indian PC market performed
slightly lower than expected, largely due to the poor uptake in the consumer
desktop market. The consumer desktop market in India declined six percent
sequentially in JFM 2005.

The
overall desktop segment in JFM 2005 (consumer + commercial desktops) grew 16%
compared to the same quarter a year ago to total 8,97,000 units. The consumer
desktop market in India grew 22% year-on-year, in the first quarter of 2005. The
commercial desktop segment grew 14% year-on-year basis to total at 608,000
units.

The notebook PC segment displayed an explosive growth, driven by corporate
and government demand. The increase in run rate business was also

crucial to the increase in overall numbers. Notebook sales in India grew nearly
87% in 1Q05, in unit terms, compared to the same quarter a year ago. HP emerged
the leader with a nearly 33% market share.

IBM also recorded growth and stood second with a close to 26% market share in
unit terms during the same time period. The market for notebooks grew on account
of revival in investments, increased capital expenditure and aggressive price
war by the vendors. It is interesting to note that though entry-level prices for
notebooks created a lot of noise in the market, majority of the gains took place
in the Rs 70K-80K category.

X86 server shipments in India grew 29% on a year-on-year basis. Imperative to
the growth in numbers were key installations at financial institutions, coupled
with a surge in shipments in the government space.

"Although availability and affordability of PCs is on the rise, it will
be the third and most crucial A of 'Applicability' that holds the key to
explosive growth during the next financial year. More and more consumers are
seeking value and willing to pay an extra premium to get it," said IDC
(India) Hardware Research Senior Manager, Sanjit Sinha.

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