Acer and Xiaomi see explosive growth in Indian PC and tablet markets: Canalys

India's "Make in India" initiative is also spurring a wave of domestic PC production with 27 firms approved for incentives to boost local manufacturing capabilities, according to a Canalys report.

After short-term turbulence, India's PC market primed for rebound. (Image: Firosnv. Photography/Unsplash)

While HP and Samsung emerged as the top vendors for PCs and tablets respectively in India’s Q4 2023 market, it was Acer and Xiaomi that stole the show with staggering annual growth rates according to the latest data from research firm Canalys.

HP shipped over 1.067 million PC units to take the lead in that market segment during the quarter. Samsung was the tablet king, moving over 275,000 tablets to Indian customers. However, when looking at year-over-year increases, Acer saw a 67.7% spike in combined PC and tablet shipments. Meanwhile, Xiaomi saw an astonishing 201.8% annual growth rate for tablets.

(Image: Canalys)

The overall Indian personal computing market, covering desktops, notebooks, and tablets, grew a modest 4% year-over-year in Q4 2023 with 4.3 million units shipped in total. Desktop shipments led the charge, up 27% to 884,000 units.

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“At the tail end of 2023, India’s PC market faced high inventory levels in the channel, driven by a supply push due to fears of import restrictions,” said Canalys Analyst Ashweej Aithal. “With the government subsequently easing these restrictions, vendors focused primarily on inventory correction.”

(Image: Canalys)

The report expressed optimism for a market rebound in 2024 across consumer and commercial segments, citing improving consumer sentiment around discretionary spending and pent-up commercial/enterprise demand. However, public sector procurement faced delays ahead of India’s general elections in Q2 2024.

A bright spot was the government’s “Make in India” initiative spurring OEMs to ramp up domestic production, according to the report. With 27 firms approved under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, Aithal anticipates “a substantial increase in devices manufactured in India” to strengthen domestic tech capabilities.

“Both AI and locally manufactured PCs will take center stage in 2024,” added Aithal. “AI-capable PCs are expected to experience a substantial boost in the coming commercial refresh cycle as the end of Windows 10 approaches. With these devices commanding relatively high prices in the short term, commercial uptake, especially by large enterprises, is expected to be stronger initially.”

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Looking ahead, the report forecasts robust double-digit percentage growth in both commercial and consumer PC segments for 2024 and 2025. A 14% year-over-year increase is projected for 2024, followed by another 15% jump in 2025, fueled by solid commercial buying.