PC sales grow 39% YOY: MAIT

The first quarter PC sales crossed 8.9 lakh (0.89 million) units, a growth of
39 percent over Q1/2003-04 although it is eight percent lower than the sales in
Q4/2003-04 (JFM), while sales of notebooks and servers witnessed unprecedented
growth. The quarter was also marked by strong consumption of printers and other
peripherals. PC sales in the first half of FY 2004-05 are expected to cross 18
lakh units.

According to the findings of the MAIT Quarterly Industry Performance Review
for the quarter April-June of FY2004-05, the growth in PC sales can be largely
attributed to increased IT consumption by industry verticals and corporate
sectors such as telecom, banking and financial services, manufacturing and
IT-enabled services.

Apart from these traditional sectors, higher consumption was also witnessed
in SMEs, IT training institutes, and other computer centric small enterprises.
Growing number of retail outlets and malls have also added to the PC
consumption. In addition, the trend of increased PC purchase in smaller towns
and cities, witnessed last year, continued steadily. Aggressive pricing by the
PC vendors has also helped improve the PC penetration, especially in the
households and the SME segments.

According to the study, in the first quarter of 2004-05, the desktop PCs,
notebooks, dot matrix printers (DMP), laser printers, inkjet printers and UPS
have registered sales of close to 60 percent of their sales during the first
half of 2003-04. Given the fact that the second quarter (July-August-September)
is normally better quarter than the first (April-May-June), the market is
clearly on a growth track.

The Government consumption in this quarter was relatively low as normally the
JFM Quarter witnesses significant Government buying due to their financial year
coming to a close.

Notebook sales crossed 35,000 units recording 139 percent y-o-y growth. The
high growth in notebook consumption can be attributed to the steep drop in
notebook prices. With notebook prices matching those of the PCs, notebooks are
finding their way into the homes and SMEs. Corporate, IT companies, financial
institutes and the government were, however, the most sought after markets for
Notebooks.

The server sales were buoyant in the first-quarter of 2004-05 recording in
excess of 20,000 units. With decrease in prices, server sales into SMEs and
smaller towns gained momentum. Further, with increased corporate initiatives for
computerization and networking the future market for servers look healthy.

According to the report, DMP witnessed consolidation of its position in the
market with sales growing by 95 percent over the same quarter last year.
Resurgence in DMP sales can be attributed to the increased consumption in BFSI,
government, larger corporate and some of the newer emergent verticals such as
retail and education. Further, in AMJ, the replacement market for DMPs gathered
steam, adding to the sales.

Consumption of Inkjet Printers continued to grow steadily. In first-quarter
2004-05 Inkjet sales grew by 14 percent. The growth in demand for inkjet
printers was led by increased consumption in the homes. smaller offices and
institutions. The replacement market for laser printers also witnessed robust
growth especially in the business establishments, due to requirements of higher
printing capability and better quality. Sales of laser printers grew by 47
percent.

CYBERMEDIA NEWS

2004-05 Q1 SALES REPORT