PC sales for FY 2004-05 to touch 4m units: MAIT

With increased sales throughout the year and also, traditionally, the last
quarter accounting for maximum sales, the industry is expected to comfortably
touch the four million mark in PC sales for the fiscal year ending March 31,
2005. According to Manufacturer's Association of IT's (MAIT) Industry
Performance Review - ITOPs, the Indian desktop PC market grossed over 9.21 lakh
units for the third quarter: October-December (OND) of FY2004-05, a 14%
year-on-year growth over the same quarter in the last fiscal.

The buoyancy in PC sales can be attributed to increased consumption by
traditional industry verticals such as telecom, banking, financial services and
insurance, IT-enabled services manufacturing and the government. The highly
price sensitive segments of the market have responded positively to the drop in
prices, especially at the entry-level. This led to significant consumption in
the small and medium enterprises and in the home market.

Further, the trend of increased PC purchase in smaller towns and cities as
witnessed last year, continues undiminished. Emergence of a strong replacement
market was also one of the notable features in the OND quarter for 2004-05.

According to the study, Indian brands accounted for 23% of the market, while
MNC brands accounted for the rest 34%. The aggressive pricing strategy of the
organized sector led to a drop in the market share of assembled PCs from 55% in
Q3/2003-04 to the current 43%.

Replacement demand has also contributed to the growth of the PC market. New
technology and features and applications better suited to run on latest machines
combined with aggressive pricing are driving the replacement market.

Notebook market in OND witnessed a 47% growth over JAS scaling 64,707 units,
due to a drop in notebook prices. For most peripherals, Q3 witnessed significant
growth. On a quarterly basis, laser printers witnessed a growth of 90%, followed
by dot matrix at 85% and inkjet at 30%.

According to Gartner Inc, the Indian market grew 34.4% in 2004 for a 10.23%
share in the Asia-Pacific region. PC shipments are estimated to total 37.3
million units in 2005, a 12.8% increase from 2004. The top vendors showed
remarkable growth, snatching market share mainly from the white-box segment,
while also growing the market. Within this segment, desktops grew 31.5% while
notebooks grew 116% over 2003. HP is the top Indian PC vendor, garnering 12.7%
of the market share and growing 85.4% in 2004, followed by HCL and IBM at the
second and third place respectively.

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