India’s PC market, comprising desktops, laptops, and workstations, declined 30.1% in the March ending quarter, shipping only 2.99 million units compared to the same period last year.
While the demand for desktops remained positive, laptops witnessed a weak quarter, declining 40.8% during the period.
The consumer segment declined 36.1% due to slowing demand and low market sentiment, while the commercial segment declined by 25.1% due to reduced or delayed procurement by companies, according to an IDC blog post.
The premium segment declined 65.6% in the commercial segment and registered a 59% decline in the consumer segment. Inventory correction of Apple MacBooks and low demand from enterprises led to a slump in the shipments of premium notebooks as online channel also struggled for the second consecutive quarter, declining by 42.4%.
(For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache)
Shipments in the consumer segment decreased significantly as channel partners across tiers tried clearing the aging inventory, they were carrying for the last two quarters.
The consumer market is expected to gradually recover with back-to-college demand, to be followed by aggressive online sales expected during the festive months, Bharath Shenoy, senior market analyst, IDC India said in a company blog post.
Government and education segments remained the only ones with positive traction, aided by the procurement from government bodies. The segment grew by 25.2% YoY, while the education segment grew by 65.6% YoY.
PC demand has been sluggish as SMEs are delaying procurement due to the credit crunch, and enterprises are reducing or delaying procurement out of recession fears. The PC market is expected to stay sluggish for a few more months and will start recovering from Q4 2023 onwards, Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President, Devices Research, IDC India, South Asia & ANZ said.
PC brand performance
HP Inc. led the market with a 33.8% market share performing strongly in both the consumer and commercial segments. Despite the strong performance based on government and education orders along with offline channels, the vendor declined 30.2% YoY as demand dropped across segments.
Lenovo was second with a share of 15.7% despite witnessing a decline of 37.5%. The company struggled in the government segment with the quarter being driven by government orders.
Dell with its 13.9% market share was able to secure third place in the market. The company focussed on correcting inventory in consumer and SME segments, which led to a big drop in its market share. The lack of enterprise orders also impacted the company’s performance as this has traditionally been its forte.
Acer Group captured 12.3% of the market share. Despite the negative sentiment in the market, the company fared better than other vendors doing extremely well in the government and education segments.
Asus held the fifth position with a market share of 6.6%. The vendor continued to do well in the consumer segment, holding the second position in the consumer notebook category ahead of Lenovo and Dell with a 17.9% market share.
