Post-elections, biz confidence pushes up PC sales by 5.8%: IDC

Helped by improved business sentiment after general elections, PC shipments in the country grew by 5.8 per cent to about 2.67 million units during the quarter ended September 30, compared to the previous three months, research firm IDC said.
However, sales were down 16.9 per cent from the year-ago period, July-September 2013 - at about 3.24 million units, IDC said in a statement today.
The commercial PC market during the September quarter this year stood at 1.29 million units. Business confidence post-elections has shot up considerably and a slew of policy measures announced by the government have provided an impetus to the overall growth in the July-September quarter, IDC said.

The overall consumer PC market recorded 1.37 million units, a quarter-on-quarter growth of 18.1 per cent over April-June 2014. IDC expects demand to fall in the October- December 2014 quarter in the consumer PC business.
"Q4 is usually hit by a post festive syndrome and 2014 would be no different. Also, protests by the channel community across various parts of India against predatory pricing by e-tailers is adding to the woes in the PC market. We expect the sequential fallout in the consumer business to be in the range of 15-20 per cent," IDC India Research Manager (Client Devices) Kiran Kumar said.

On the other hand, commercial business is expected to maintain its momentum over the next few quarters driven by a healthy demand in Government and public education segments in the coming quarters, Kumar said.

Uptake of affordable PC segment (sub USD 400 portable PCs) along with seasonal demand owing to festive season resulted in a sharp improvement in Q3, IDC India Market Analyst (Client Devices) Manish Yadav said.
HP retained its top spot with a market share of 25.5 per cent in the India PC market. Its market share, however, declined by 8.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, primarily on account of fewer shipments fulfilled towards the special project ie ELCOT in the reported quarter.

On the consumer business, HP pre-empted demand and rolled out early campaigns and partner programs, which led to their growth. This was further fuelled by their success on entry- level segment well supported through Bing SKUs.
"There is positive sentiment in the market as technology continues to seamlessly integrate in our daily lives, pushing demand in the consumer and commercial space. We are seeing people on the move and organisations on their growth track, are making fast decisions on adopting solutions that can aid their personal and professional experience in this competitive world," HP India Vice President and General Manager (PPS) Rajiv Srivastava said.

One will continue to see adoption of solutions aligned to the new style of IT in the coming year as well, he added.
Dell (22 per cent) was at the second spot, followed by Lenovo (16.5 per cent) and Acer (12.9 per cent).