Commercial and consumer desktops have not faced a significant fall in demand in the overall Indian PC market in spite of the industry shift towards mobility.
Data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) showed the share of consumer and commercial desktops in the second quarter of 2017 was 44 per cent, just marginally lower than 45 percent two years ago. Share of laptops/notebooks have remained flat at around 53 per cent during the period.
According to Manish Yadav, Associate Research Manager at IDC, the small and medium-sized business segment and the education segment (mainly government) are driving demand for the desktop category.
“Increased spending was observed from the SMB and education segments in the desktop category in Q217,” Yadav said. The SMB segment, according to him, is more inclined towards buying desktops than notebooks because of security reasons, upgrades and suitability from a work environment perspective. “The government education purchase always happens more on desktop for lab set-ups at schools and other government institutes.”
HP Inc, when contacted, said the company, as a whole, has been growing in desktop as well as notebooks segment and was optimistic about the increase in share of both the categories in the coming quarters. “We expect an extremely positive Q3, when a new academic session starts — where a lot of notebook buying happens — followed by the festival season,” said a spokesperson for HP.
Lenovo India said new government policies have increased the potential of the PC market in India, and it expects further growth. Rahul Agarwal, CEO and Managing Director of Lenovo India, said: “While recent government reformative efforts, such as the implementation of GST, presented a short-term setback, the market has bounced back. Moreover, these initiatives have spurred demand as there is an added focus on technology as an enabler. As PC penetration in the country pegged at 10 per cent, there is significant headroom in terms of growth potential for PCs, and initiatives like Digital India are boosting the adoption of PCs.”
The writer is an intern with BusinessLine Mumbai Bureau.