PC sales in India dismal, but tablets take off: MAIT

24th July 2013
PC sales in India dismal, but tablets take off: MAIT
Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT, presenting the industry overview on July 24 2013, in Delhi.

New Delhi, July 24, 2013: The annual Industry Performance Review of the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology(MAIT), the apex body representing India’s IT hardware, training and R&D services sectors has found poor growth in the personal computer business -- just 5 % in the last   financial year 2012-13. Conducted by market research firm IMRB International,the study says The total PC sales between April 2012 and March 2013, combining desktop computers, notebooks and netbooks were at 11.31million (113.1 lakh) units. The sales of desktops stood at 6.77 million (67.7 lakh) units registering a growth of one per cent. Notebooks and Netbooks taken together recorded a consumption of 4.41 million (44.1 lakh) units, growing ten per cent over the last year. Tablets are cannibalizing the PC market and registering a phenomenal growth of 424% in the 2nd consecutive year. PC sales are expected to be around 12.11 million (121.1 lakh) units in FY 2013-14, a growth rate of eight per cent.

Says J V Ramamurthy, President, MAIT: “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 year 2012-13 has been the year for Tablet PC with consumers preferring Tablet over PC as their replacement. The combination of basic functioning of a PC coupled with affordability is turning the tide favourably towards Tablet PC. That said, the SEC C Households which made a significant contribution last year for PC continues to put on a strong show registering an impressive growth of 67%. The industry is hopeful that the overall PC sales for 2013-14 will reach around 12.11 million units, registering a modest growth of 8%.
Adds Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT: “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% but it is also a reality. The growth of PC industry is crucial, as the country still has very low PC penetration.”
Other findings
Overall printer sales continued to decline albeit marginallyat a rate of 1% during 2012-13 over the last fiscal year. The sales at 2012-13 stood at 2.93 million (29.3 lakh) units.
Among printers, Laserjet printer is the only segment where sales grew positively and the growth rate was around 14% over last fiscal year. The consumption went to 1.57 million units from 1.38 million (13.8 lakh) units.
Internet
The number of active Internet entities posted 17.6 million in March 2013, growth of 11% over March 2012. Internet penetration in the 22 cities was 65% among businesses and 35% among households.