India’s PC market grows 34% annually in Q3 2021: Canalys

India shipped a record 5.3 million units of Personal Computers (PCs) in the July-September quarter of 2021, at a year-on-year (YoY) growth rate of 34%, market research firm Canalys said in its report, published today on the India PC market.  

In Q2 2021 (April-June), India recorded 3.2 million PC shipments in total with all product categories logging strong double-digit growth, as per International Data Corporation report published on August 12. 

Also read: Notebooks push India PC shipments up 30%: IDC

Notebooks accounted for 3.5 million PC shipments, however, in terms of YoY increase it grew by 31%.  

Tablet was the fastest-growing segment with a 41% YoY increase on back of 1.2 million PC shipments.  

Demand for desktops is also picking up with workers returning to workplaces-- a total of 0.6 million desktops were shipped at a growth rate of 29%.  

Canalys attributed the overall increase in demand for PCs to the quick economic recovery in India led by startups and large enterprises.   

"The seasonal rise in consumer demand has boosted shipments in consumer channels, a ramp-up in enterprise and SMB procurement has ensured strong growth in all segments," Ashweej Aithal, Research Analyst at Canalys said in a statement. 

Aithal also pointed out that vendors have started to focus on markets beyond North America and Western Europe, leading to an increase in shipments in countries in Asia and Latin America.  

In the education sector "uncertainty about the pandemic is forcing institutions to sustain their hybrid learning models and remain agile in the event of a future lockdown,” said Aithal.  

In terms of total PC market share including tablets, Lenovo has surpassed HP to become the leading PC vendor (27% market share) for the first time since the October- December quarter of 2020. The Chinese brand shipped 1.4 million devices in the September quarter, out of which 600,000 were tablets.  

Though HP maintained its lead in the desktop and notebook market, in the overall PC market that included tablets, they are the second leading brand (24% market share) with 1.2 million PC shipments, out of which 1 million were notebooks. Dell with a 13.7% market share and 726,000 unit shipments was the third leading brand during the quarter.  

Acer and Asus with 7.5% and 7.1% market share, respectively, were the other two brands in the top five. Acer was the fastest growing brand in the quarter with a YoY growth rate of 95%, followed by Dell at a distant 43%. 

According to Canalys, Acer’s notebook shipments have almost doubled annually, while its desktop business grew by almost 100%. Analysts have attributed this growth to the ramping of local manufacturing of desktops by Acer to meet specific government criteria for a contract order, which requires vendors to ensure that over 50% of its devices are manufactured in India.  

Going forward, Aithal feels the demand for tablets and notebooks will remain high due to large tenders from government and educational institutions. Demand from individual buyers will also remain strong as parents would ensure their child's education isn't disrupted, he added.