HP pips Dell to regain top slot in Indian PC market
17 Feb 2011
Technology giant Hewlett Packard (HP) has bounced back to the top slot in the Indian PC market after skidding for two quarters, according to market research firm IDC.
The company said yesterday, that in overall PC market, in the December quarter, which includes both notebooks and desktops, HP bagged a market share of 17.3 per cent in terms of sales, displacing Dell that held a 14.2 per cent share. Acer with an 11.5 share came in at the third spot.
According to an analyst from IDC who spoke to The Financial Express newspaper, Dell suffered because of low exposure in the consumer business. He added that October-December being a holiday season, procurements from large businesses in India were down. Dell has a huge exposure in the segment and on the low Dell sales HP gained advantage.
In desktop PC sales, HP and HCL respectively had an 10.86-per cent and 10.78-per cent market share, followed by Acer. In notebook PCs, HP recovered its position at the top with a market share of 26.2 per cent. Dell and Acer were placed at the second and third spots, respectively.
Dell had marched ahead of HP in the desktop PC segment during the September quarter of 2010 and established a clear leadership position in terms of overall shipments too. Dell's growth during the September quarter had come with better marketing and distribution. Also, the firm was able to make gains due to troubled restructuring at rival HP.
| Table 1: India PC Sales (lakhs of units) by Form Factor* and Growth Trends: October-December 2010 vs. July-September 2010 and October-December 2010 vs. October-December 2009 | |||||
| Form Factor | 4Q 2009 (Oct-Dec 2009) | 3Q 2010 (Jul-Sep 2010) | 4Q 2010 | Growth | Growth |
| Desktop PCs | 12.7 | 16.8 | 14.5 | -13% | 14% |
| Notebook PCs | 7.0 | 11.1 | 10.4 | -7% | 49% |
| Total PC | 19.7 | 27.9 | 24.9 | -11% | 26% |
| *Source: IDC's India Quarterly PC Tracker, 4Q 2010, February 2011 | |||||
According to Sumanta Mukherjee, lead PC analyst with IDC India, there was still an open fight for the top spot between HP and Dell and it remains to be seen whether HP would be able to hold on to its lead this quarter when large corporate spending is back.
IDC added that the overall India PC market sales grossed 24.9 lakh units in the October-December 2010 quarter, on a 26-per cent jump over the year ago quarter, but dropped 11 per cent sequentially. Desktop PC sales were at 14.5 lakh units, representing a 14 per cent increase year-on-year. The sales of notebooks was up 49 per cent year-on-year to at10.4 lakh units for the quarter.
According to Anirban Banerjee, associate vice-president, research, IDC India, high inflation and low industrial growth rates failed to dampen the PC market in the fourth quarter of 2010. He added that as the market came off the traditional peak, it was still able to return an impressive year-on-year growth, indicating the inherent strength of consumer and commercial demand.
