E-learning pushes computer sales 27% in December quarter

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New Delhi: The PC market in India continued its growth momentum registering 27% growth in shipment at 2.9 million units in the December 2020 quarter from 2.3 million units in the year-ago period, as per research firm IDC.

However, the market – comprising desktops, notebooks, and workstations – witnessed a 6.4% decline in shipment on a full-year basis with shipment at 10.27 million units in 2020 as against 10.97 million units in 2019.

During the October-December 2020 quarter, the notebook segment grew 62.1% year-on-year to contribute more than three-fourths of the total shipments of 2.9 million units.

The growth driver continues to be the demand from e-learning and remote working, leading to a 74.1% and 14.1% annual growth in the consumer and enterprise segments, respectively, IDC said.

E-learning and remote working needs had helped the Indian PC market log its biggest quarter in the July-September 2020 period with shipment rising 9.2 per cent year-on-year to 3.4 million units.

“2021 will give another opportunity to the vendors to leverage the missed prospects due to supply constraints in 2020. So far, consumer demand does not seem to be abating anytime soon, and enterprises also continue to place fresh orders,” IDC India Associate Research Manager (Client Devices) Jaipal Singh said. Additionally, many government education deals are under discussion which can set a strong foundation for 2021, he added.

“However, if the current supply challenges continue for some more months, it can offset the ongoing demand to some extent. Availability of the devices will not only be critical for the category growth but will play an important role in the expansion of the market in the country,” Singh noted.

The year 2020 ended as the biggest year for notebooks with 7.9-million-unit shipments during the year with the shipment growing by 6 per cent in 2020, IDC said.

“However, if we exclude the mega ELCOT deal, notebooks witnessed an impressive 34.3 per cent y-o-y growth this year. Had the industry not been challenged by the component shortages, notebook shipments could have been much higher during the year,” it added.

Desktop shipments, on the other hand, saw a decline of 33.2 per cent in 2020 as companies reduced their spending on fixed computing devices and preferred mobile devices to manage their operations remotely, IDC said adding that this led to a 6.4 per cent decline for the overall PC market in 2020.

“The massive demand in the consumer segment driven by online learning led to the exceptional performance of notebooks. Likewise, gaming notebook PCs were one of the fastest-growing categories, further proof of the growing importance of gaming in the country,” IDC India Market Analyst (PC Devices) Bharath Shenoy said. Shenoy added that the market saw demand across the price bands and concluded the biggest fourth-quarter shipments for notebooks in India.

However, the severe supply challenges for entry-level CPUs and panels restricted the growth, as supply remains much lower than the current demand in the country, Shenoy said.

Dell Technologies replaced HP for the top position in the overall PC market, as its shipments grew 57.1 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter. It had 27.5 per cent market share, ahead of HP Inc that had 26.7 per cent share.

HP remained the leader for the full year of 2020 with 28.7 per cent share, while Dell Technologies had 23.2 per cent share.

Lenovo occupied the third position with 18.4 per cent share in the December quarter and 21.7 per cent share on a full year basis. Acer Group retained the fourth spot with an 8.5 per cent market share in the fourth quarter and 9.8 per cent share in 2020.

Asus held the fifth position with a 6.4 per cent share in the December quarter and 6.3 per cent share in 2020. Shipment numbers include shipments to distribution channels or end-users, and include desktops, notebooks, and workstations. These numbers do not include tablets or x86 Servers.