Notebook sales more than double in 2007-08

For the year under review, the PC (including desktop and notebook) sales crossed 7.34 million units and grew by 16 per cent over the previous year. Desktop sales, however, increased by 1 per cent.

The outlook for the next year is equally robust with notebook sales expected to grow at 65 per cent and the total PC sales estimated to grow at 16 per cent.

The report pointed out that the number of active internet entities increased to 7.2 million subscriptions by March 2008, while the figure was 6 million units in March 2007. With this, the internet users exceeded 52 million.

The study stated that towns and cities outside the top-four metros contributed to nearly 80 per cent of the notebook sales in the establishment segment.

The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) recorded significant growth in 2007-08 at 174 per cent and 123 per cent respectively over 2006-07. SMEs accounted for over 50 per cent of the total notebook consumption in the country.

MAIT Executive Director Vinnie Mehta said, "Today, notebooks account for a quarter of the total PC market in the country, up from less than 3 per cent four years ago. With shifting consumer preference in favour of notebooks over desktops, this proportion will only get larger with time."

Western India, with 31 per cent of the PC consumption, was followed by south India, accounting for 27 per cent of the market share. Sales in both the West and the South grew by 39 per cent each over 2006-07. The PC consumption in the East increased by 10 per cent, accounting for 17 per cent of the market.