PC sales to grow at 8% in FY'14; tablets eating into PC share

NEW DELHI: India's PC sales, comprising desktops, notebooks and netbooks, are expected to grow 8 per cent at over 12.11 million (1.21 crore) units in 2013-14, IT hardware industry body MAIT said today.

It also said that despite low penetration of tablets, they are "cannibalising" the PC market.

The findings are part of the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology's annual industry performance review, conducted by market research firm IMRB International.

"The overall IT Hardware Industry scenario seems to be on a conservative side with most of the markets posting either a muted growth or decline. The industry is hopeful that overall PC sales for 2013-14 will reach around 12.11 million units, registering a modest growth of 8 per cent," MAIT President J V Ramamurthy said.

The 2012-13 fiscal has been the year for the tablet PC with consumers preferring it over PC as replacement, he said, adding that the combination of basic functioning of a PC coupled with affordability is turning the tide in its favour.

The SEC C households, which made significant contribution last year for PC continues to put on a strong show registering an impressive growth of 67 per cent, he said.

Commenting on the growth of tablets, MAIT Executive Director Anwar Shirpurwala said: "The overall growth of the Tablet industry is impressive, however, the decline in the growth of PC is a matter of concern which is growing by only 5 per cent but it is also a reality."

The growth of PC industry is crucial, as the country still has very low PC penetration, he added.

"Tablets are cannibalising the PC market and registering a phenomenal growth of 424 per cent in the second consecutive year," Ramamurthy said.

Tablet sales in 2012-13 stood at 1.9 million units against 0.36 million in 2011-12.

Total PC sales between April 2012 and March 2013 were at 11.31 million (113.1 lakh) units, registering a growth of five per cent over the last fiscal.

Desktops sales stood at 6.77 million (67.7 lakh) units, a growth of mere one per cent. Notebooks and Netbooks taken together recorded a consumption of 4.41 million (44.1 lakh) units, growing 10 per cent over the last year.

This end-user study on the IT hardware market, which is conducted by IMRB since 1996-97, is based on over 15,000 face-to-face interviews with end-users spread over 17 cities, with data projected to the 'all-India urban market'