HP Retains Leadership In India PC Market During 1Q09

In a subdued India PC market, Hewlett-Packard (HP) held the largest share, HCL Infosystems grew and Dell saw a decline in its share during 1Q 2009 (January–March 2009), according to technology research firm IDC India’s latest study.

HP maintained its lead and gained share in PCs (desktops and notebooks) to capture 18.2 percent of the India PC market in terms of unit shipments. HCL Infosystems with a market share of 9.8 percent of overall PC shipments regained the second spot. Dell, which jumped to second position for the first time in the Oct-Dec 2008 quarter, slipped back to the third spot in 1Q 2009.

While Acer’s market share dipped marginally (7.7 percent in 4Q 2008 to 7.3 percent in 1Q 2009), Lenovo’s share showed a more pronounced drop of 1.9 points (6.6 percent in 4Q 2008 to 4.7 percent in 1Q 2009), says the IDC India study.

HP has been numero uno in the India PC market consistently every quarter over the last four years (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008). At the global level as well, HP dethroned Dell to claim the Number 1 spot in the US PC market, while Dell faced a tough quarter across the board according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, April 15, 2009, release.

“Moving forward, hardware in general and PC shipments in particular will continue to remain under pressure. Winners would gain market share and improve profitability through the right price/ volume mix and optimal exploitation of supply chain efficiencies,” said Kapil Dev Singh, country manager, IDC India.

“With the twin forces of market de-growth and loss of share, those vendors, who do not occupy a clear niche in customers’ minds would be under pressure,” said Singh.

In the short term, over the next two quarters, vendor positions in the India PC market would be largely determined by how well they are able to exploit the opportunities presented by the Consumer, Education and Government segments, the IDC India report added.

The India PC market witnessed a 7 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in shipments in 1Q 2009 (first quarter of calendar year 2009) over 4Q 2008 (fourth quarter of calendar 2008), according to IDC’s Asia/Pacific Quarterly PC Tracker, May 2009 release.

A total of 16,79,000 units of Client PCs (desktops and notebooks) were shipped during the January-March quarter of 2009. Desktop PC shipments of 12,13,000 units registered a sequential growth of 9 percent QoQ while notebook PC shipments of 4,66,000 units recorded a growth of 3 percent QoQ.

In spite of the overall subdued market, the total installed base of PCs in India surged past the 36 million units mark.