India PC shipments decline 7.4% in Q1: Gartner

Shipments of personal computers in India declined by 7.4 per cent in March quarter to about 2 million units, market research firm Gartner said.
"There was decline in both the enterprise and consumer segments in buying in the first quarter of 2016. With the first quarter being the end of the financial year for some companies, there were expectations that enterprises would exhaust their budgets," Gartner Research Director Vishal Tripathi said in a statement.
PC shipments in India totalled nearly 2 million units in the first quarter of 2016, a 7.4 per cent decrease over the first quarter of 2015, it said.

Despite marginal decline in market share to 25 per cent from 25.8 per cent a year ago, HP stood at number one position in PC shipments in India in the reported quarter. Gartner attributed the leadership position of HP to its strong presence in channels and online consumer purchases.
"Consumers accounted for 45 per cent of total PC sales in the first quarter of 2016, down from 48 per cent in the first quarter of 2015. However, it did not have much of an impact on the PC market, and the market continues to face a challenging time," Tripathi said.

The sales number include mobile PCs that comprise mini- notebook, ultra-portable, tablet or other mobile configurations.

"In the first quarter, mobile PCs declined by 13 per cent year-on-year primarily due to a lack of enthusiasm in consumer buying," the statement said.
In the first quarter of 2016, PC vendors had excess inventory that was carried forward from the fourth quarter of 2015. Gartner analysts believe that inventory will be carried forward into the second quarter of 2016.
Acer managed to increase its market share to 12.2 per cent from 10.5 per cent during the period under review but it was ranked below Dell and Lenovo, as per Gartner's estimates.

Gartner estimates that Dell and Lenovo had 23.5 per cent and 19.4 per cent market share, respectively in the reported quarter.