PC sales set to cross 3 million

Desktop PC sales in India crossed 800,000 units in the third quarter of the current financial year, registering an 87 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year.

According to an industry performance review for the October-December quarter of 2003, released by the Manufacturers' Association of Information Technology (MAIT), annual PC sales in the current financial year are expected to cross 3 million units, a 30 per cent growth over last year.

"The buoyancy in PC sales can be attributed to the increased consumption by traditional industry verticals such as telecom, banking, financial services, insurance, IT-enabled services and manufacturing as well as non-traditional sectors like education, retail outlets and self-employed professionals. However, consumption in the government sector remained subdued, and is expected to gain momentum in the next quarter," a MAIT release said.

The key findings of the report suggest that assembled PCs accounted for 55 per cent of the total PC sales in the third quarter. While the Indian brands accounted for 15 per cent of the market, the MNCs accounted for the rest 30 per cent.

Replacement demands have also contributed to enhance the PC market growth. New technology and features, application better suited to run on latest machines combined with aggressive pricing are driving the replacement market.

The traditional markets like banking and finance, government, education, and manufacturing and corporate continued to fuel the server market which crossed 16,600 units, registering a growth of 85 per cent over the previous quarter. Increased networking in smaller businesses has also added to increased server sales.

For most peripherals, the third quarter witnessed significant growth. Laser printer sales witnessed the highest growth of 83 per cent, followed by inkjet printers at 57 per cent and UPS at 56 per cent.

While increased buying in the traditional markets like the government and BFSI helped emergence of newer markets, retail and education have added to the growth of the dot-matrix printer market.