PC market to respawn

Indian PC market is all set to make a comeback. The credit for giving back life to the segment goes to government initiated education projects and investments made by academic institutes.

Research firm IDC stated, despite projections of muted first quarter sales. PC shipments had touched 9.6 mn units last year, down 16.5% compared to 2013, the research firm said.

According to the research firm, although inventory issues and constrained buying from end-users is likely to impact the sales for the first three months of the year, the overall PCmarket in the country will see growth, compared to 2014.

Government and government-aided education buying will hold the key to growth in the commercial PC business. As IDC Research Manager Kiran Kumar notes, “On the consumer business, opportunity is ripe for vendors to drive penetration and improve overall business. We expect new entry level price points to be created for full-blown PCs with innovative form factors and that will continue to drive excitement in this category.”

Also, subsiding inflation and rapid growth of online trade coupled with the introduction of sub-$ 400 devices created just the right buzz for the PC business in 2014, Kumar said.

IDC sees the overall commercial PC market clocked 4.7 mn units last year, declining 29.6% from 2013. “The primary reason for the plunge was that barring fulfilments for ELCOT Phase III, the contribution of large education projects was not exciting in 2014 compared to 2013,” IDC market analyst Manish Yadav said.