India PC shipments decline 7.4% in first quarter of 2016: Gartner

PUNE: PC shipments in India totalled nearly 2 million units in the first quarter of 2016, a 7.4 per cent decrease over the first quarter of 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. “Consumers accounted for 45 per cent of total PC sales in the first quarter of 2016, down from 48 per cent in the first quarter of 2015,” said Vishal Tripathi, research director at Gartner.

White boxes (including parallel imports), which accounted for 28 per cent of the overall desktop market, declined 6 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. In the first quarter, mobile PCs declined by 13 per cent year-on-year primarily due to a lack of enthusiasm in consumer buying. In the first quarter of 2016, PC vendors had excess inventory that was carried forward from the fourth quarter of 2015. Gartner analysts believe that inventory will be carried forward into the second quarter of 2016.

“There was decline in both the enterprise and consumer segments in buying in the first quarter of 2016. With the first quarter being the end of the financial year for some companies, there were expectations that enterprises would exhaust their budgets. However, it did not have much of an impact on the PC market, and the market continues to face a challenging time," said Tripathi.

Among the PC manufacturers, HP had the leading share in the first quarter with 25% of the market due to a strong presence in online consumer purchases and channels.