Indian traditional PC market shipped 3.1 million units in 1Q21: IDC

The India traditional PC market (including desktops, notebooks, and workstations) surged by 73.1% on-year in the 1Q21 (January-March) totaling 3.1 million units, recording the highest-ever first-quarter shipments, according to new data released by International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.

Notebooks category remained the growth-driving category, growing at 116.7% in the first quarter of 2021, while the desktop category showed initial signs of recovery.

“The demand for virtual learning is still strong, alongside a stronger demand for affordable PCs. This is evident from the recovery of desktops in the consumer segment, which grew 49.5% YoY in 1Q21, despite the growing trend of notebooks replacing desktops,” noted Bharath Shenoy, Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India.

HP Inc. replaced Dell to return as the top vendor in the market growing by 102.1% on-year and shipments of 1,023 units in 1Q21.

According to IDC, at the end of the quarter, vendors could better manage allocations from their headquarters. Additionally, it said the strong annual growth is due to lower than usual shipments in the 1Q20.

“Many companies remained fully remote or had adopted a hybrid working model to manage the growing concerns of the pandemic within the country. As cases continued to rise, a few large enterprises procured PCs in bulk to manage their workforces, adopting these new working models for the long haul,” Shenoy added.

Vendors-wise, Dell Technologies moved to the second position in the market but grew by 45.4% and shipped 677 units.

Lenovo in the third position recorded a 73.4% on-year growth in 1Q21 and shipped 624 units.

Acer Group retained the fourth position in 1Q21, growing at 10.4% on-year.

ASUS tied with Apple for the fifth position with a share of 5.4% in 1Q21.

Apple recorded its biggest quarter for PC shipments in India and tied for the fifth position with ASUS. Its shipments grew 335.5% on-year.

“While most vendors’ immediate concern is re-joining with full strength, they will also use this time to plan their inventory for the coming quarters, as we will see a further surge in the PC demand when the situation improves in the coming months,” commented Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.