PC shipment falls 7.8% in Q1 as consumer mkt hits all-time low

PC shipments in the country declined 7.8 per cent to 1.99 million units in January-March, from 2.16 million units in the same period last year, says a report.
Impacted by consumer market softening to an all-time low, shipments fell 20.8 per cent per cent sequentially from 2.52 million units in the October-December 2015 period, the report by research firm IDC said.
HP reclaimed the top spot with market share of 25.1 per cent in the PC market, followed by Dell (23.6 per cent), Lenovo (19.7 per cent) and Acer (11.8 per cent) in the reported quarter.
"For the first time in last four years, the overall consumer market has dipped to an all-time low in terms of unit shipment," IDC India Senior Market Analyst Client Devices Manish Yadav told PTI.

While 1.16 million units were shipped in January-March 2015 quarter to the consumer segment, shipment fell to 1.08 million in the last quarter of 2015 and further to 0.92 million in the first quarter of 2016.
"While the quarter started with positive sentiment, the actual buying did not keep up. However, this is quite normal during the budget announcement period and vendors are now hoping for a seasonal turnaround in Q2 2016," he added.

For the year ahead, Yadav said: "With seasonality factors and various macro-economic indicators looking positive, the industry is up for a period of stability after a volatile 2015 and early 2016. This sense of optimism seems to be rubbing off on the Indian consumer, which will increase the consumption in near future".

The commercial PC segment recorded 1.08 million unit shipments in the first quarter 2016, a decline of 24.5 per cent on quarterly basis.
"While the policy direction laid by the government indicates a positive momentum going forward, it will be crucial to firm up the implementation strategy as well," Yadav said.