India’s PC market shipments surge in Q3 amidst import restrictions talks

• The Indian PC market recorded its best quarter with a shipment of 4.5 million devices in Q3 2023.
• This surge comes after four consecutive quarters of decline.
• The growth in part is due to the looming import restrictions from the government.

The Indian personal computer or PC market has recorded its highest ever shipments at 4.5 million devices in the third quarter of 2023, a 14% increase year-on-year. The rise comes after the PC market had reported a decline in four consecutive quarters.

The Indian PC market, which consists of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, had shipped 3.2 million units in Q2 2023. Apart from the festive season, the boost in shipments could also be due to the looming restriction on imports, which has now been withdrawn by the Indian government.

“The consumer segment saw strong traction in 3Q ‘23 after a challenging past four quarters,” said Bharath Shenoy, Senior Research Analyst, IDC India.

Decent growth across segments

According to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC), both notebooks and desktop segments recorded decent growth in Q3 2023.

The desktop segment has reported a 19.3% year-on-year growth and the notebook category has grown by 13.1%.

While the commercial segment has remained flat, the consumer segment recorded a growth of 26.3% year-on-year.

The education segment recorded a huge 117.5% growth at the back of a Gujarat education project, where sections of the society were provided with free devices.

Government restrictions boost shipments

The shipments in part are attributable to companies shipping devices to boost inventory anticipating import restrictions by the Indian government. It is worth noting that the import restrictions have now been put on hold.

“In August, the Government of India declared a mandatory requirement of import licences for PCs from October 30. Though this decision was later put on hold, vendors shipped significant channel inventory to avoid any risks of supply shortages or price hikes, not to mention ensuring sufficient supplies for festival season sales,” added Shenoy.

HP leads the PC industry

HP continues to lead the Indian PC market with a 29.4% market share in Q3 2023, recording a 33.5% year-on-year growth in the commercial segment. The company recorded its biggest ever quarter in terms of consumer shipments.

Lenovo was a distant second with a share of 17% in Q3 2023, reporting an 8.8% year-on-year decline in shipments.

Dell is in the third position with a 14.6% market share, recording a growth of 3.8% during the quarter. The company’s consumer segment recorded a 68.5% growth year-on-year.

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