PC mart grew 29% last fiscal

International Data Corporation today said that the Indian personal computer market grew 29 per cent to 3.64 million during 2004-05 as against 2.83 million in the preceding year.

HCL led the desktop market with shipments of over 4.75 lakh units. HP led the notebook PC market with shipments in excess of 75,000 units. HP, however, was the leader in the PC market, followed by HCL and IBM .

The market growth was mainly on account of a strong demand for notebooks, which posted an 80 per cent increase in shipments to 221,390 during 2004-05.

The desktop market grew 19 per cent to 3.36 million during 2004-05 as against 2.68 million in 2003-04.

IDC said that the growth was despite the uncertainty about the implementation of VAT, anticipation of price drops following the implementation of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA-I) and fluctuations in the supply of components.

The explosive growth in the notebook segment, which saw sales grow nearly 87 per cent during the first quarter of 2005, drove the growth in the PC industry.

This growth was on account of revival in investments, increased capital expenditure and aggressive price war by the vendors.

Fall in prices coupled with innovative schemes and promotions contributed to the growth, IDC said. Educational institutions and the financial services sector were the large buyers.

The overall desktop segment grew by 16 per cent and saw the emergence of HP and HCL as the only vendors to cross one-lakh unit milestone in a quarter.

The big picture

The desktop market grew 19 per cent to 3.36 million during 2004-05 as against 2.68 million in 2003-04

HCL led the desktop market with shipments of over 4.75 lakh units. HP led the notebook PC market with shipments in excess of 75,000 units. HP, however, was the leader in the PC market, followed by HCL and IBM

Notebooks shipments increased 80 per cent to 221,390 during 2004-05