Hardware. India’s traditional PC shipments grew 50.5% YoY in Q2 2021: Report

The India traditional PC market including desktops, notebooks, and workstations continued grow with shipments increasing 50.5 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in Q2 2021 (April-June), according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.

As per the data 3.2 million PCs were shipped in total during the quarter, with all product categories reporting strong double-digit growth.

“In the absence of any large education and government deal, this was the second consecutive quarter when India’s PC market saw shipments of over 3 million PCs, underlining the growth in the enterprise, SMB, and consumer segments,” the report said.

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Notebook PCs continue to hold more than three-fourth share in the overall category with a 77 per cent market share. The category grew 49.9 per cent YoY in Q2 2922, reporting a fourth consecutive quarter with over 2 million units. Desktops also indicated a recovery as shipments grew 52.3 per cent YoY after recording the lowest shipments of the decade in Q2 2020. Desktops held a 21.0 per cent market share during Q2 2021. Workstation held a 2.0 per cent market share.

The reopening of schools and colleges was further delayed due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has led to a strengthening demand for PCs for learning from home.

The consumer segment grew 118.4 per cent YoY during the quarter, and 5.9 per cent sequentially as vendors prepared the channel in anticipation of stronger demand. The commercial segment grew 13.8 per cent YoY as the enterprises, especially the IT and IT-enabled services companies, continued buying to manage the growing workforce in the ongoing work from home scenario. Moreover, the demand from SMBs also supported the growth of the commercial segment as it grew 61.2 per cent from the same time a year ago, as per the report

“Despite the country being severely impacted by the second wave of Covid-19, there was a sense of optimism in the market as vendors utilised the time to procure devices to assure channel availability from their end,” said Bharath Shenoy, Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India.

He further added, “Channel partners were struggling with low inventories and backlogs for almost a year; this came as a breather for a few vendors as they were able to add a few more weeks’ inventories to their channel. However, as demand continues to outstrip the supply, it doesn’t seem that the channel inventory will return to normal before the year-end.”

Top players

HP Inc reported over a million shipments for the second quarter in a row. It maintained its lead in the India PC market with a 33.6 per cent share as its shipments grew 54.2 per cent annually.

“HP shipped over half a million notebooks in the consumer segment, registering the highest shipments in the consumer notebook segment in a quarter by any vendor in India. Better allocation to the country and timely supplies helped the vendor to further widen its lead in the PC category,” the report said.

It was followed by Dell Technologies which also continued to hold the second position with a 22.1 per cent share and a 86.1 per cent YoY growth in Q2 2021. The company held a share of 29.6 per cent in the commercial segment, placing closely behind HP in the second position. It retained its third position in the consumer segment as its shipments grew 161.9 per cent during the quarter.

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Lenovo came in third with a market share of 17.8 per cent. However, it did witness a marginal decline in its overall shipments due to the delayed supplies in the country. However, it retained its second position in the consumer segment as its shipments saw a 28.8 per cent yearly growth in Q2 2021.

Acer Group retained the fourth position with an 8.7 per cent market share witnessing a YoY growth of 31.6 per cent, primarily driven by strong performance in the consumer notebook segment as its shipments almost tripled from the same time a year ago.

Acer also shared the leading position in the commercial desktop category with HP, with a share of 24.6 per cent during the quarter. Apple tied with Asus in the fifth position for the second quarter in a row with around 4.7 per cent market share each.

Jaipal Singh, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India said, “The tremendous growth in India’s consumer notebook segment is attracting many smartphone brands to explore this category. The country offers huge potential for all brands to grow if they timely address the demand, which is slowly shifting to entry-level price points. However, the current supply situation may restrict the growth opportunities in the short term, but this is a great window of opportunity to enter India’s consumer notebook market.

He further added, “New brands also need to be considerate about the challenges that PC vendors faced in the past in terms of affordability, connectivity, and usability, and their devices portfolio should be aligned to these challenges if they are eyeing a significant share in this market.”