Indian PC market growth at 34.4%, fastest in APAC

India was followed by Vietnam, which posted a 25.9 per cent growth, while New Zealand was in the third slot with a 19.8 per cent growth. The data included that of desktop PCs and mobile PCs, it said.

In volumes, China is followed by India, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. ‘‘Peaking business confidence based on strong economic growth catalysed PC purchases in both consumer and corporate segments throughout 2004,’’ said Vinod Nair, Analyst (Computing Systems), Gartner.

Also, in India, the top vendors have shown remarkable growth, squeezing the market share of the white box or the assembled segment. While Hewlett-Packard (HP) continues to dominate the Indian market with 12.7 per cent of market share, home grown HCL is close behind with 12.6 per cent of the market share. Both the brands have topped 85 and 84 per cent growth rates respectively. In India, Acer showed an 87.9 per cent growth, while HP posted around 85.4 per cent growth and HCL at 84.4 per cent during the year under review, it added.

Looking forward, Gartner expects the Indian market to grow by 29.3 per cent in 2005, due to the strong economic indicators on back of a growth-directed financial budget making way for healthy PC uptake in 2005. “Current budget announcements will augment the disposable income of families, signalling further growth in PC deployment in consumer segment,” Nair said, adding, “While there will be a small correction in the new user markets, this will be more than compensated by upgrades and replacement by existing users.”

On the market share of APAC region, Gartner said it remained on track for a double digit growth as PC shipments were estimated to total 37.3 million units in 2005 — a 12.8 per cent increase from 2004. The PC market ended the year 2004 with a stellar performance with year-on-year growth of 13.8 per cent and shipping of 33.1 million units.

According to Gartner Principal Analyst (Client Platforms) Lillian Tay, “Demand was exceptionally strong from the professional market, including business, education and government segments, where replacement and expansionary demand drove shipments.’’ This was assisted by better economic situation and the need to replace the aging PC, she said.

Within the segment, desktops grew 31.5 per cent while notebooks grew 116 per cent over 2003. While on the one hand desktops are finding new users in metro and upcountry, the report pointed out that notebooks are selling remarkably well on convenience as well as mobility.