Showing signs of growth, the Indian personal computer market grew by 9.6 per cent during the July-September period in the current fiscal at 565,000 units compared to the same period last fiscal, according to an International Data Corporation survey.
As per the survey Hewlett Packard has retained its number one personal computer vendor position in the domestic market
The market grew by 6.2 per cent sequentially, the survey said while predicting that a smart recovery in 2003 would lead to a growth of 22.2 per cent for the Indian personal computer market.
IDC, however cautioned that the growth in sales can not an indicator for the overall recovery in the market and said that the market conditions would continue to be difficult for the computer vendors and lack of big deals would have a negative impact of the units sold.
"However, the above signs of growth are not adequate to indicate an overall recovery in the market. Conditions continue to be difficult for personal computer vendors and the lack of any big deals in the commercial segment and postponement of buying decisions will have a negative impact on units sold," IDC said.
After HP, HCL and IBM were the second and third largest personal computer sellers during the second quarter while HCL emerged as a dominant leader in the commercial business space displacing HP from the top slot.
Performing well in the consumer market, local assemblers and small regional brands upped their market share to 69 per cent in the quarter against 67 per cent in April-June.
Consumer desktops during the period posted a growth rate of 16 per cent at 188,000 units while commercial desktops showed a modest growth of 6.2 per cent at 356,000 units, the survey said.
Portables recorded a robust growth of 28.5 per cent at 12,803 units while personal computer servers showed a minor growth rate of 1.6 per cent at 7,855 units.
According to IDC, various government funded projects in the education space were the key reason for the growth in the PC sector.
"Government funded projects in the education space were the key to the improved performance in the commercial space," Aman Munlani, head, computing products research, IDC India, said.
The consumer market continued to mirror trends seen in the last quarter with a marginal sequential growth of two per cent while the increase in education purchases provided the much-needed market support to bolster an ailing commercial segment.
IDC had earlier this year predicted some recovery signs to show up in the third quarter (July-August-September) and fourth quarter (October-November-December) of 2002.
"A true recovery will have to wait until 2003. IDC expects a growth rate (in unit terms) of 29 per cent in 2003 up from 8 per cent in 2002," the IDC had pointed out in June 2002.
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