India’s traditional PC market (inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations) shipped an all-time high of 4.49 million units in 3Q24 (calendar year), up 0.1 per cent year-over-year (y-o-y) according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
The desktop category declined by 8.1 per cent YoY, while the notebook and workstation categories saw marginal growth of 2.8 per cent y-o-y and 2.4 per cent y-o-y , respectively. Online festival sales drove the demand for premium notebooks (above$1,000), which grew by 7.6 per cent y-o-y.
In 3Q24, the consumer segment declined by 2.9 per cent y-o-y despite vendors aggressively discounting a wide range of PCs on e-tail platforms. The demand situation was more organic this year, and unlike 3Q23, vendors did not overstock in 3Q24, thereby leading to a marginal y-o-y decline. The commercial segment grew by 4.4 per cent y-o-y , while the enterprise segment grew by 9.6 per cent y-o-y .
“The e-tail sales, which typically starts around the second week of October, began in late September, leading to a surge in PC shipments,” said Bharath Shenoy, Research Manager, IDC India & South Asia. “Brands capitalised on e-tail sales by offering steep discounts, cashbacks, and bundled accessories. Many of them also matched similar pricing in their brand stores and offline channels like Larger Format Retail stores (LFRs), leading to the second biggest consumer quarter in history. By leveraging these diverse strategies, vendors were able to tap into different market tiers ultimately driving a significant increase in consumer PC sales.”
HP Inc. led the market with a share of 29 per cent in 3Q24, topping the charts in both commercial and consumer segments with shares of 34.3 per cent and 24.8 per cent, respectively. HP shipped 1.05 million notebooks in 3Q24, its third biggest quarter ever, driven by strong performance in the enterprise segment which grew by 30.2 per cent y-o-y and good demand for consumer notebooks during festive sales.