Indian PC Shipments Declined By 11.7 Percent in Q3 2021, HP Leads Overall Consolidation: IDC

HP maintained its lead in the overall PC category with just under a million shipments in the Indian market during the third quarter of 2022, IDC reports. However, the overall PC segment saw a sharp decline of 11.7 percent in the third quarter of 2022, after eight consecutive quarters of positive growth. Consumer and commercial segments catapulted overall decline. Meanwhile, the government segment was the only one that witnessed a continued positive growth trend posting a 91.5 percent year-on-year growth in the third quarter of 2022.

Notebooks, which have been enjoying dominance in the overall PC category in India over the past quarters, witnessed a softening across segments forcing vendors to clear their inventory. The report from IDC adds that the desktop and workstation categories drove overall consolidation while posting a growth of 23.4 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively in the third quarter.

The consumer segment that saw an overall decline in the third quarter managed to pick itself up at the end of September with the help of increased online sales. The consumer segment managed to ship 2.1 million units in the third quarter of 2022, as per the report.

While the demand for premium notebooks declined sharply by 28.5 percent in the commercial segment, premium notebooks grew by 9.8 percent in the consumer segment. The consumer segment growth of premium notebooks was driven by a strong performance from Apple and the good traction ASUS' gaming notebooks enjoyed during the quarter, the report added.

HP maintained its lead in the overall PC market with a share of 23.9 percent, despite an overall weakening sentiment in the third quarter of 2022. However, the Palo Alto, California-based company's consumer share dipped to 22.1 percent and its commercial share dipped to 25.9 percent despite continuing to lead both segments.

Lenovo overtook Dell for the second position with a strong 18.8 percent holding in the consumer segment. This was driven by an increase in online sales, the report said. Lenovo also led the small medium enterprises (SME) segment with a share of 32 percent, despite having to endure a dire state of overall procurements in the category.

Dell's slip to the third position in the overall PC market was largely due to the company losing momentum in the consumer segment that was counter incentivised by the company shying away from online sales. Meanwhile, Acer continued its stay in the fourth position with a share of 10.9 percent while ASUS stayed put in the fifth position with a share of 9.9 percent in the third quarter of 2022.

IDC notes that the reopening of schools and colleges has resulted in a tapering demand for remote learning and is the primary reason behind the weakening of the consumer segment. Meanwhile, a "weakened currency is resulting in rising device costs and pricing pressure for vendors. As the online sales were going on, vendors delayed price increases in Q3, but the discounts weren't as lucrative as in previous years either. Vendors are expected to increase prices in Q4, which might further dampen sentiment,” added Bharath Shenoy, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.