PC export sales touch 19.7 lakh units

The overall India PC market shipment sales touched 19.7 lakh units in the October-December 2009 quarter, recording a 25.7 per cent year-on-year growth pointing to a strengthening recovery, according to market researcher IDC.

Desktop PC sales accounted for nearly two-third of total sales at 12.7 lakh units, representing a 14.6 per cent increase on year-on-year basis, it said in a statement.

However, on quarter-on-quarter basis (over July-September 2009) there was a decline of 12.8 per cent in sales (shipments) due to "seasonality factor".

The Notebook PC sales grew at 52.8 per cent year-on-year clocking 6.9 lakh units in Oct-Dec 2009.

The desktop PCs recorded sales of 12.91 lakh units, representing a year-on-year growth of 14.6 per cent.

Total India personal computer shipments have grown for the last four consecutive quarters of 2009 after dropping sharply from a peak of 22.6 lakh units in July-September 2008 to 15.6 lakh units in October-December 2008.

Notably, home PC shipments (both desktops and notebooks) climbed a significant 38 per cent year-on-year (October-December 2009) over October-December 2008.

While, this was along expected lines, from an industry viewpoint the pleasantly surprising development was the growth of 57.0 per cent year-on-year (October-December 2009 over October-December 2008) in notebook PC shipments.

In the overall PC (Notebooks and Desktops combined) market, HP retained the top spot with a market share of 16.2 per cent in terms of unit shipments, while Dell and Acer closed with 13.6 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively.

In terms of desktop PC shipments, HP retained its top position with a market share of 11.6 per cent, followed by HCL and Acer in second and third spots, respectively, during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2009.

However, it was in the notebook PC shipments that the market witnessed a shake-up, as Dell captured top spot with a market share of 26.3 per cent for the first time in fourth quarter of calendar year 2009.

"Dell's ascent in the India notebook PC market in 4Q CY09 can be attributed to their consistent marketing efforts over the previous quarters. Availability of a wide product portfolio with appealing aesthetics and branding helped Dell connect with 'Gen X' buyers - students as well as young executives," said IDC India (PC analyst) Sumanta Mukherjee.

"The revival of buying by the large business and very large business segments, which have traditionally been strong segments for Dell also shored up the vendor's performance in the quarter ended December 31", Mukherjee added.