Personal computer (PC) sales, inclusive of both desktops and notebooks in the country reached a mark of 7.3 million units this year (2007-08) registering a 16% growth year-on-year, riding on sales of notebooks and driven by concentrated sales in the western and southern region markets, said a Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (Mait) and IMRB study. This year’s growth figure is marginally lower than PC sales growth of 26% witnessed in 2006-07 over the previous year. The PC consumption has grown in western and southern part of the country by 39% while it has actually declined by 13% in the northern region. Rajesh Kurup, executive director, IMRB International partially attributed this regional discrepancy to the e-governance initiatives adopted by the government of Gujarat, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which have resulted in trickle-down effect on the private sector in terms of IT initiatives.
PC sales growth has almost fully been driven by notebooks market that registered a 114% y-o-y growth vis-a-vis PC market which grew just by 1% since last year. “With sales crossing a million units in the second-half of last fiscal, total sales of notebooks in 2007-08 surpassed 1.8 million (18 lakh) units. Today, notebooks account for a quarter of the total PC market in the country, up from less than 3% four years ago. With shifting consumer-preference in favour of notebooks over desktops, this proportion will only get larger with time,” said Mait executive director, Vinnie Mehta. Higher consumption of notebooks was driven by reasons of affordability, mobility, sleek designs, enhanced security features and other in-built accessories. Focussed marketing initiatives by the vendors and celebrity endorsements have also contributed to an increased notebooks consumption in the country.
Mehta added that although the sales to the large enterprises were less than expected, 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 southward trend in pricing for all IT products continued during the year due to technology reasons and also due to intense competition. Significant growth in the home market and steady consumption in the small-and-medium enterprises sustained the market in 2007-08.
The Internet users in the country exceeded 52 million in 2007-08. Emphasising the need for robust Internet infrastructure to boost the domestic IT market, Mait president, Mukul Singhal added “To strengthen our broadband infrastructure we need an early resolution of the last mile and spectrum allocation issues. A robust broadband will usher in a slew of services, relevant applications as also content in local languages which will create the necessary pull-factor and further drive the IT products market.” The industry body projects a 65% ‘healthy’ growth for the year 2008-09 in the notebook segment while the growth in desktop segment is expected to remain flat.