Bolstered by remote working, PC shipments grew 44.5% in calendar year 2021. Year 2022 may see softening of PC uptake due to supply constraints and pricing rise
Mumbai, NFAPost: Remote working demand coupled with better supplies attributed to a strong growth in the Indian PC market. The India traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations delivered a strong year with shipment growth of 44.5% year-over-year (YoY) in 2021 (January-December), said the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
While the notebook category was the volume driver with shipments reaching 11.6 million units, there was a steep decline in the desktop category in 2020, which managed a recovery with 30% YoY growth. This can be attributed to strong demand from enterprises, SMB, and consumer segments.
For the year 2022, IDC expects the demand for PCs softening due to supply constraints and increased pricing. IDC India Research Director Client Devices Navkendar Singh said The market witnessed unprecedented demand for PCs in last two years in both the commercial and consumer segments, but demand is expected to soften in 2022.
“While digitalization and remote working are expected to be primary drivers for the SME and enterprise segments, component shortages, supply challenges, and increased prices might continue to impact the government and education segments negatively, leading to further delays in projects. We may also witness some traction for the newer vendors in the consumer segment as supplies start improving in the second half of the year,” said IDC India Research Director Client Devices Navkendar Singh.
However, the market continued to be upbeat as the vendors collectively shipped more than 4 million PCs in Q4CY21. The desktop category continued its upward trajectory driven by demand in the Education and VLE segments, shipping more than 800,000 units for the first time in eight quarters, while notebooks clocked over 3 million units for the second quarter in succession.
The commercial segment posted a sharp YoY growth of 81.4% in Q4CY21 while the consumer segment witnessed a more subdued YoY growth as vendors focused on inventory correction following a very strong Q3CY21 (July-September).
IDC India Senior Market Analyst (PC Devices) Bharath Shenoy said as schools and colleges continued to function remotely for a second consecutive year, the demand for a computing device became extremely important for students.
“Some of the students who were earlier using smartphones/tablets for their virtual classes opted for a PC for obvious benefits such as bigger screen and ease of usage,” said IDC India Senior Market Analyst (PC Devices) Bharath Shenoy.
Commenting on the ongoing momentum in the notebook category, IDC India Senior Market Analyst (PC Devices) Bharath Shenoy said the consumer segment witnessed strong growth despite facing supply disruptions across the year.
“While the incumbent brands managed to get better allocations and ship bigger volumes of PCs, new brands that entered the Indian market in the past few years struggled to get timely supplies thereby strained to fully capitalize on the market opportunity,” said IDC India Senior Market Analyst (PC Devices) Bharath Shenoy.
In terms of brand ranking, HP continued to lead the overall PC market with a share of 31.5% as its shipments grew by 58.7% YoY in CY2021. The vendor also led the market and had its biggest quarter ever in 4Q21 by shipping more than 1.3 million units.
HP had a commanding share of 32.9 per cent and 30% in the commercial and consumer segments in 2021 as they grew by 57.5% and 60.1% YoY respectively, said the IDC report. Strong demand coupled with consistent supplies helped the brand in managing substantial growth in both segments.
Dell Technologies secured the second position with 23.6% share and 47% YoY growth in CY2021. The vendor also stood in second place behind HP in 4Q21 as it shipped more than a million units for a second consecutive quarter.
While it was a close second to HP in the commercial segment with a share of 29.8% in 2021, it managed to stay ahead of Lenovo but was a distant second in the consumer segment. The vendor also led the enterprise segment with a share of 38% driven by increased demand from Indian IT/ITeS customers and its global accounts.
Lenovo continued to hold its third position with a share of 17.4% and 18.4% respectively. While the vendor managed an impressive growth of 22.8% YoY in 2021 across segments, constrained supplies impacted its overall shipments. It however did perform well in SME segment, coming in second behind HP with a share of 24.7%.
Acer Group retained the fourth position with an 8.2% market share in CY2021 while it held a share of 7.7% in 4Q21. As the desktop category made a comeback of sorts in 2021, Acer was one of the main beneficiaries due to its established commercial desktop business. The vendor was second in the commercial desktop category behind HP with a share of 25.8%.
ASUS maintained the fifth position with a share of 4.4% in Q4CY21 and 5.9% in CY2021 as it grew by 36.1% YoY in 2021. While it managed a healthy growth in the consumer segment in 2021, it started making inroads in the commercial segment, growing a staggering 227.2% YoY.
