The India traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, grew by 0.3% year-over-year (YoY) in 2022 to 14.9 million units despite a steep YoY decline of 28.5% in 4Q22 (Oct-Dec), according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. In 4Q22, desktops continued their upward trend, but notebooks declined by YoY 37.8%. Inflation and low sentiment impacted the consumer segment, resulting in a decline of 27.4%. Delayed orders and inventory challenges for the enterprise segment led to a decline of 42.6% YoY.
The government and education segments were the biggest gainers in 2022, growing YoY at 117.6% and 28.3% respectively, but enterprises fell by 5.9% YoY. Desktops and workstations grew 32.3% YoY and 24.7% YoY respectively, but the volume driver notebook category declined by 8.4% YoY, primarily due to softening demand across segment groups. Premium notebooks (>US$1,000) declined by 7.9% YoY in the commercial segment but grew by 14.6% YoY on the consumer side due to the continued popularity of premium notebooks and MacBooks. The online channel declined by 9.4% YoY in 2022 with a steeper YoY decline of 37.5% in 4Q22.
“In the consumer segment, the year started on a positive note with strong double-digit growth in the first half of the year. Demand started to taper off in the second half of the year and eventually plunged in 4Q22 despite positive online sales in 3Q22, as channel inventory piled up,” said Bharath Shenoy, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.
Top 5 Company Highlights: 2022
HP Inc. led the market with a 30.2% share in 2022 thanks to strong demand from global accounts and the government segment. While its notebooks declined by 10.7%YoY, its desktops and workstations witnessed significant YoY gains.
Dell Technologies was second behind HP with a share of 19.2% despite falling 18.5% YoY. The vendor did well in the commercial segment with a share of 25.2%, though its share dropped to 12.5% in the consumer segment. Enterprises continued to be its strength, driven by increased demand from its global accounts and Indian IT/ITES majors.
Lenovo came very close third to Dell as it held a share of 18.9%. The vendor grew 3.1% YoY in 2022 as it witnessed positive momentum in both the consumer and commercial segments despite undergoing an inventory correction in 4Q22. The vendor grew 14.1% YoY in the SMB segment, which has been the primary market driver for the vendor
Acer Group held the fourth position behind Lenovo with a share of 9.9%. The vendor grew 21% YoY in 2022, fueled by strong demand for commercial desktops. The vendor was second behind HP in commercial desktops with a share of 26.7%, where it witnessed YoY growth of 45.7%.
ASUS held the fifth position behind Acer in 2022 with a share of 6.8%. The vendor continued to grow significantly in consumer notebooks as it held the third position behind HP and Lenovo with a share of 15.6% and a YoY growth rate of 20%. A continued focus on offline channel expansion helped it make substantial gains
Apple is a noteworthy entrant which managed to break into the Top 5 vendors for 4Q22. The vendor has been consistently clocking strong numbers since last few quarters and finally managed to pip Asus to the 5th spot in 4Q22. In a quarter where all the major vendors focused on inventory correction leading to reduced shipments, Apple witnessed positive traction thereby growing by 10.9% YoY.
Commenting on the outlook, Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President, Devices Research, IDC India, South Asia & ANZ said, “PC demand has been slowing in the last few months across segments. With channel inventory being as high as 8-9 weeks, vendors are expected to remain cautious in 1H23 by focusing on bringing inventory levels down to normal levels.”
