IDC India: Q2 2009 PC Sales Up 5.2%; Netbooks Double

Sale of computers in India in Q2 2009 (April-May-June) rose 5.2% to reach 1.76 million with laptops growing 7.2% to almost touch half a million units. Overall PC shipments in the quarter were 15.3% lower compared to the same quarter last year, when it was 2 million units. IDC has pointed out in its India Quarterly PC Tracker 2009 that the decline has reduced from a high of 22.7% in Q4 2008 versus Q4 2007, and is hence an early sign of revival post the recession. Note the quarter here is according to calendar year and not financial.

Though sale of desktops has still not recovered due to the ongoing recession, they are more popular in the country with 1.26 million desktops, which grew 4.4% from 1.21 million on a sequential basis. Hewlett-Packard (HP) currently tops in desktop PC sales followed by HCL and Acer. HP is also the leading laptop seller in the country with 30.9% market share followed by Dell and Acer.

Netbooks

Though numbers were not given, the IDC report said shipping of mini-notebooks, or netbooks as they are called, doubled in the quarter and will continue to grow with more vendors entering the market. BenQ (Joybook Lite U121 Eco) and Samsung joined the fray of netbook importers including Lenovo (S9, S10 series), Asus (EeePC), Wipro (E.Go) and Acer (Aspire One). The price of netbooks still prevents it from replacing desktops – when it does reduce, sales in education and home segments can be expected to boom. More netbooks will be out in the markets after Microsoft’s release of Windows 7 in October 2009. Vendors are also testing Google’s Android OS for netbooks.

Thin Clients

The report makes no mention of thin clients, which telcos such as Airtel and BSNL have started marketing.

Related

– IDC Press Release
– On Airtel Net PC: Application Marketplace, Remote Connectivity, Target Market
– OLPC Targets 3 Million Laptops In 365 Days; In Talks With 9 State Govts
– The $10 Laptop: A Myth
– Novatium To Launch NetPC With BSNL; Why MTNL & BSNL