Muted enterprise demand pushes India PC shipments below 4 million units: IDC

The traditional PC market in India, which includes desktops, notebooks, and workstations, fell to 3.7 million units in the April-June quarter as enterprises delayed purchases and college reopening got pushed to July, according to IDC.

While overall shipments for the quarter grew 17.8% over the same period last year,  they fell below the 4-million-unit mark for the first time since then, IDC noted. In the first quarter, PC shipments stood at 4.3 million units, which means a drop of close to 600,000 units in Q2 compared with Q1 2022.

The notebook category continued to be the volume driver in the quarter, with 2.6 million units sold, though its growth rate declined to 7.3% YoY compared to over 30% YoY on average for the last three quarters. The desktop category managed to cross one million units for a second consecutive quarter.

Growth slows for PC shipments to enterprises

The demand for PCs was rather positive through April, but it slowed in the second half of the quarter, as the reopening of colleges got pushed to Q3 2022, IDC said in a press note. The enterprise segment grew by 14.9%, much lower than the previous three quarters as orders were delayed. Similarly, the small and medium-size business growth rate was lower than in the previous two quarters, and channel inventory increased considerably as demand tapered.

The worst, however, may not be over the PC market in India. “Increased channel inventory and slowing demand is a matter of concern in both the consumer and commercial segments,” said Navkendar Singh, associate vice president for Devices Research at IDC India, South Asia & ANZ. “High inflation, fear of recession, and dollar price fluctuations might slow PC procurement, especially among startups. Big enterprises are buying but delaying their purchases. Still, the upcoming online festivals might be a ray of hope in the consumer segment, while the strong momentum in the government segment and the existing pipeline in the enterprise segment are something to look up to in the commercial segment.”

The government segment was strong due to spillover orders from the previous quarter, but the other segments are slowing, with channel inventory increasing, IDC said.

HP led the overall PC market in India by shipping over 1.15 million units during Q2 2022 and continued to lead the overall PC market with a share of 30.8%. While government deals helped its commercial desktop performance, some backlogged enterprise orders helped it perform strongly in the commercial notebook category, IDC noted.

Dell Technologies led the market in the commercial segment during the quarter with 27.1% market share and in the enterprise segment with 39.7% market share in Q2. However, it fell behind HP in overall shipments due to weakness in the consumer business.

Lenovo continued to hold its third position behind Dell in Q2 with a share of 19.6%. The vendor grew an impressive 38.8% YoY in the consumer segment but lost some momentum in the commercial segment due to delayed orders. The vendor still performed well in the small and medium-size business segment, where it grew by 51.8% YoY and was second behind HP, IDC said.

IDC does not include tablets in the traditional PC category. Separately, market research company CMR reported that the tablet PC market in India grew 68% YoY during Q2 2022. In India, tablets are increasingly being used as secondary devices at home by consumers both for work and for their children’s online education, CMR said.