PC sales cross 1.75 lakh in Q3 2007-08

New Delhi

April 11, 2008

MAIT announced the findings of its Quarterly Industry Performance Review for
the quarter October-December (OND) of fiscal 2007-08. The total PC sales between
October and December 2007, with desktop computer and notebooks taken together,
were 1.75 million (17.5 lakh) units, registering a growth of 26 percent over the
same period last fiscal. The buoyant mood in IT consumption was led by
significant growth in notebook sales, which grew by 158 percent, while
consumption of desktops grew by four percent. Consumption of servers, laser
printers and UPS also witnessed robust growth. PC sales are projected to cross
7.25 million units in fiscal 2006-07 led by demand from the households and
various industry verticals.

Commenting on the industry performance, MAIT Executive Director, Vinnie Mehta
said, “The third quarter was driven by increased consumption in the household
segment while industry verticals and corporate sectors such as telecom, banking
and financial services, manufacturing, e-governance and IT-enabled services,
experienced steady growth. The growth in these verticals is expected to continue
in the fourth quarter (JFM) of the financial year. Apart from the traditional
sectors, consumption was also witnessed in SMEs, education, retail and other
computer-centric small enterprises. Aggressive pricing by the PC vendors has
also helped improve the PC penetration, especially in the households and the SME
segments.”

MAIT's Industry Performance Review-ITOPs, conducted by the leading market
research firm Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB), is bi-annual and aims to
address the hardware sector's efforts to manage the business environment,
gauge the market potential and consumer trends. The module to monitor the
industry performance every quarter alternates with the half-yearly review, using
the supply side estimation model involving data collection from the top IT
vendors and leading channel players. This round of the quarterly study
(October-December 2007-08) involved data collation from the major vendors and
around 400 resellers/vendors in the top 16 metros in India. The quarterly review
covers the market size estimation for desktop PCs, notebooks, servers and
peripherals-printers and UPS.

The desktop market grossed 1.25 million (12.5 lakh) units in Q3 2007-08, a
growth of four percent over Q3 2006-07. Although it is seven percent lower than
the sales in Q2 2007-08 (JAS) (sequential), sales are expected to be steady in
the quarter January-March as IT sales peak in the last quarter (JFM) of the
financial year.

As per the MAIT-IMRB study, the assembled desktops-the smaller lesser known
regional brands and unbranded systems, accounted for 32 percent of the PC sales
in Q3 2007-08, while the proportion of the branded desktops was 68 percent. MNC
brands accounted for 51 percent of the market while the Indian brands accounted
for the rest 17 percent.

The findings of the study are indicative of the following significant trends
in buying and usage patterns:

In the desktop market, in the business segment, it was primarily the banks,
financial institutions, insurance companies, educational institutes, retail
sector, IT sector and IT related companies that were the lead consumers; while
in the household segment, reduced prices coupled with applications for 'entertainment'
and 'education' have fuelled the market. Increased focus on e-governance by
the central and state governments also provided traction for desktop
consumption. The households market has emerged as one of the key drivers of
consumption enabling the market to rapidly expand into the hinterland.

Notebook sales crossed 500K units recording 158 percent growth over the third
quarter in 2006-07. The high growth in notebook consumption can be attributed to
the drop in notebook prices and the additional benefit of mobility and space
management. Notebooks are increasingly finding their way into the homes, SMEs
and the education sector. Several first-time PC buyers are now opting for
notebooks rather than desktop. High consumption in corporates, IT companies,
financial institutes and the government however continues to drive the Notebook
consumption.

The performance of the printers market remained mixed. Compared to the same
period last year, consumption of laser printers grew by 36 percent, however that
of inkjet and dot-matrix printer (DMP) declined by 17 and seven percent
respectively.

The UPS market has shown substantial increase in demand. Consumption of UPS
witnessed an increase of 30 percent on an annual basis.