Brief

Notebooks drive Indian PC market: MAIT

The Manufacturer’s Association of Information Technology (MAIT) has predicted that strong macro-economic conditions and steady buying sentiment in the market would propel PC sales to cross 7.25 million during this fiscal.

Based on its latest Industry Performance Review for the first-half of financial year 2007-08, the industry body said that PC sales between April and September 2007, with desktop and notebooks taken together, stood at 3.28 million (32.8 lakh) units, up 11% over the same period last fiscal. While the notebooks registered a growth of 59%, the desktops grew by a miniscule 3%.

“Notebooks have emerged as a significant driver for the PC market in India in the first half of 2007-08. Sales of notebooks surpassed 0.68 million (6.8 lakh) units growing 59% over the same period last year, accounting for 21% of the total PC market in the country. Notebooks accounted for less than 3% of the PC market four years ago,” said Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT.

According to the study, the overall consumption in the PC market was led by telecom, banking and financial service sectors, education and BPO/IT-enabled services, and the e-governance initiatives of the Union and the state governments.

The report also highlights that multinational brands accounted for 48% of the total desktop market in H1 2007-08, registering a growth of 33% over the same period last year. Simultaneously, the proportion of Indian brands fell from 23% to 17% registering a year-on-year decline of 24%. That said, the market for assembled PCs smaller and lesser known regional brands and unbranded systems witnessed a decline of 10% in H1 2007-08, with their market share falling from 40 to 35% of total desktop sales.

In contrast, the notebook market witnessed tremendous growth. The household segment witnessed 164% growth in consumption accounting for 49% of the total notebook market. In the enterprise segment, while the office locations accounted for the bulk (85%) of notebook sales, significant growth in consumption was witnessed in the manufacturing sector, retail outlets and the government. Similarly, consumption of notebooks by the business segment grew by 16%, with large enterprises contributing the major part (two-thirds) and reporting 25% growth.

Other findings of the report:

• Server Market: Servers registered a growth of 50% over the first-half of the previous fiscal, riding on high consumption by the small and medium establishments where sales increased by 107% and 272% respectively. The two segments put together accounted for 84% of the total sales of servers in the country. Sales to large enterprises declined by 56%, accounting for only 16% of the total market for servers.
• Printer Market: Overall printer sales at 0.68 million (6.8 lakh) units declined by 10 % during H1 2007-08 over the same period in fiscal 2006-07 due to poor off-take of sales in the business segment. Printer sales are forecast to cross 1.8 million (18 lakh) units in fiscal 2007-08.

Consumption of laser printers at 0.20 million (2.0 lakh) units recorded a decline of 9% as consumption in large enterprises fell by 31%. Large enterprises accounted for 40% of laser printer consumption, down from 52% in the same period last year. Consumption of laser printers however grew in the small and medium enterprises by 4% and 31% respectively, each accounting for 30% of the market.

Consumption of dot-matrix printers at 0.16 million (1.6 lakh) units in H1 2007-08 declined by 24%. Consumption of dot-matrix printers in the business segment fell by 26%; however in households segment it registered a growth of 19%. Households accounted for only 8% of dot-matrix printer purchases.

Consumption of inkjet printers at 0.31 million (3.1 lakhs) units declined by 2%. While the households bought 20% more inkjet printers, the business segment bought 19% less.