Posted by New Delhi: The Indian PC market shipped a record 14.8 million units in 2021 with a 44.5% year-over-year growth according to IDC data. Notebook category driven with 11.6 million units of shipments in 2021 led the Indian PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks and workstations but excluding tablets.
However, the desktop category saw a recovery of 30% YoY growth after it had declined sharply in 2020. Strong demand from enterprises, SMB, and consumer segments helped to push the growth last year.
Of the record 14.8 million units shipped in 2021, vendors collectively had shipped more than 4 million PC in the last Oct-Dec quarter, according to IDC. Remote working demand coupled with better supplies pushed the growth of the Indian PC market.
Demand in the education and VLE segments helped the desktop category with a massive shipment of more than 800,000 units for the first time in eight quarters.
Notebooks clocked over 3 million units for the second quarter in succession. The commercial segment posted a sharp 81.4% YoY growth in 4Q21 while the consumer segment witnessed a more subdued YoY growth as vendors focused on inventory correction following a very strong 3Q21 (Jul-Sep).
As schools and colleges continued to function remotely for a second consecutive year, the demand for a computing device became extremely important for students, according to Bharath Shenoy, Senior Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India.
“Some of the students who were earlier using smartphones/tablets for their virtual classes opted for a PC for obvious benefits such as bigger screen and ease of usage,” said Shenoy, Senior Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India.
He pointed out that the consumer segment witnessed strong growth despite facing supply disruptions across the year.
While the incumbent brands managed to get better allocations and ship bigger volumes of PCs, Shenoy said that new brands that entered the Indian market in the past few years struggled to get timely supplies.
“Thereby strained to fully capitalise on the market opportunity,” reasoned Shenoy.
Top 5 company highlights in the Indian PC market in 2021
HP Inc. continued to lead the overall PC market with a share of 31.5% as its shipments grew by 58.7% YoY in CY2021. The vendor also led the market and had its biggest quarter ever in 4Q21 by shipping more than 1.3 million units.
HP had a commanding share of 32.9% and 30% in the commercial and consumer segments in 2021 as they grew by 57.5% and 60.1% YoY respectively. Strong demand coupled with consistent supplies helped the brand in managing substantial growth in both segments.
Dell Technologies secured the second position with a 23.6% share and 47% YoY growth in CY2021. The vendor also stood in second place behind HP in 4Q21 as it shipped more than a million units for a second consecutive quarter.
With a 29.8% share in 2021, Dell Technologies was second to HP in the commercial segment, it managed to stay ahead of Lenovo but was a distant second in the consumer segment. The vendor also led the enterprise segment with a share of 38% driven by increased demand from Indian IT/ITES customers and its global accounts.
Lenovo continued to hold its third position behind Dell in 4Q21 as well as CY2021 with a share of 17.4% and 18.4% respectively. While the vendor managed an impressive growth of 22.8% YoY in 2021 across segments, constrained supplies impacted its overall shipments. It however did perform well in the SME segment, coming in second behind HP with a share of 24.7%.
Acer Group with an 8.2% market share in CY2021 retained the fourth position while it held a 7.7% share in 4Q21. As the desktop category made a comeback of sorts in 2021, Acer was one of the main beneficiaries due to its established commercial desktop business. The vendor was second in the commercial desktop category behind HP with a share of 25.8%.
ASUS maintained the fifth position with a share of 4.4% in 4Q21 and 5.9% in CY2021 as it grew by 36.1% YoY in 2021. While it managed a healthy growth in the consumer segment in 2021, it started making inroads in the commercial segment, growing a staggering 227.2% YoY.
“The market witnessed unprecedented demand for PCs in the last two years in both the commercial and consumer segments. But the demand is expected to soften in 2022,” Navkendar Singh, Research Director, Client Devices, IDC India commented on the Indian PC market outlook.
According to Singh, digitalization and remote working are expected to be primary drivers for the SME and enterprise segments.
But he also cautioned that component shortage, supply challenges, and increased prices might continue to impact the government and education segments negatively, leading to further delays in projects.
“We may also witness some traction for the newer vendors in the consumer segment as supplies start improving in the second half of the year,” concluded Singh.