HP Inc has maintained its lead in the India PC market with a 33.6 percent share as its shipments grew 54.2 percent annually. HP shipped over half a million notebooks in the consumer segment, registering the highest shipments in the consumer notebook segment in a quarter by any vendor in India. Better allocation to the country and timely supplies helped the vendor to further widen its lead in the PC category.
The India traditional PC market (inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations) continued to be robust as the shipments grew by 50.5 percent year-over-year (YoY) in Q2 2021 (Apr-Jun), according to new data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. A total of 3.2 million PCs were shipped in the quarter, with all product categories reporting strong double-digit growth. In the absence of any large education and government deal, this was the second consecutive quarter when India’s PC market saw shipments of over 3 million PCs, underlining the growth in the enterprise, SMB, and consumer segments.
Notebook PCs continue to hold more than three-fourth share in the overall category and grew 49.9 percent YoY in Q2 2021, reporting a fourth consecutive quarter with over 2 million units. Desktops also indicated a recovery as shipments grew 52.3 percent YoY after recording the lowest shipments of the decade in Q2 2020.
| India PC Market, Product Category, Market Share, Year-over-Year Growth 2Q21 (Shipments are in thousands of units) | |||||
| Product Category | 2Q21 Shipments | 2Q21 Market Share | 2Q20 Shipments | 2Q20 Market Share | Year-over-Year unit change (2Q21 vs 2Q20) |
| 1. Notebook | 2,443 | 77.0% | 1,630 | 77.3% | 49.9% |
| 2. Desktop | 669 | 21.0% | 439 | 20.8% | 52.3% |
| 3. Workstation | 63 | 2.0% | 41 | 1.9% | 53.7% |
| Total | 3,175 | 100.0% | 2,110 | 100.0% | 50.5% |
| Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, August 2021 | |||||
The second wave of Covid-19 further delayed the opening of schools and colleges, strengthening the demand for PCs for home learning. In Q2 2021, the consumer segment grew 118.4 percent YoY, and 5.9 percent sequentially as vendors prepared the channel in anticipation of stronger demand. The commercial segment grew 13.8 percent YoY in Q2 2021 as the enterprises, especially the IT and IT-enabled services companies, continued buying to manage the growing workforce in the ongoing work from home scenario. Moreover, the demand from SMBs also supported the growth of the commercial segment as it grew 61.2 percent from the same time a year ago.
“Despite the country being severely impacted by the second wave of Covid-19, there was a sense of optimism in the market as vendors utilized the time to procure devices to assure channel availability from their end,” said Bharath Shenoy, Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India. He further added, “Channel partners were struggling with low inventories and backlogs for almost a year; this came as a breather for a few vendors as they were able to add a few more weeks’ inventories to their channel. However, as demand continues to outstrip the supply, it doesn’t seem that the channel inventory will return to normal before the year-end.”
Dell Technologies continued to hold the second position with a 22.1 percent share and impressive 86.1 percent YoY growth in Q2 2021. In the commercial segment, with a share of 29.6 percent, it placed close behind HP in the second position. Also, it retained its third position in the consumer segment as its shipments grew 161.9 percent YoY in Q2 2021.
Lenovo maintained the third position with a share of 17.8 percent in Q2 2021. However, it did witness a marginal decline in its overall shipments due to the delayed supplies in the country. Nevertheless, it retained its second position in the consumer segment as its shipments saw a 28.8 percent yearly growth in Q2 2021.
| India PC Market, Top Five Companies, Market Share, Year-over-Year Growth 2Q21 (Shipments are in thousands of units) | ||||||
| Company | 2Q21 Shipments | 2Q21 Market Share | 2Q20 Shipments | 2Q20 Market Share | Year-over-Year unit change (2Q21 vs 2Q20) | |
| 1. HP Inc. | 1,066 | 33.6% | 692 | 32.8% | 54.2% | |
| 2. Dell Technologies | 701 | 22.1% | 377 | 17.8% | 86.1% | |
| 3. Lenovo | 564 | 17.8% | 580 | 27.5% | -2.8% | |
| 4. Acer Group | 276 | 8.7% | 209 | 9.9% | 31.6% | |
| 5. Apple* | 150 | 4.7% | 46 | 2.2% | 229.2% | |
| 5. Asus* | 150 | 4.7% | 107 | 5.1% | 39.8% | |
| Others | 269 | 8.5% | 99 | 4.7% | 170.8% | |
| Total | 3,175 | 100.0% | 2,110 | 100.0% | 50.5% | |
| Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, August 2021 | ||||||
Commenting on the recent trends, Jaipal Singh, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, said, “The tremendous growth in India’s consumer notebook segment is attracting many smartphone brands to explore this category. The country offers huge potential for all brands to grow if they timely address the demand, which is slowly shifting to entry-level price points. However, the current supply situation may restrict the growth opportunities in the short term, but this is a great window of opportunity to enter India’s consumer notebook market.” He further added, “New brands also need to be considerate about the challenges that PC vendors faced in the past in terms of affordability, connectivity, and usability, and their devices portfolio should be aligned to these challenges if they are eying a significant share in this market.”