• The industry registered a 17.8% growth in shipments to 3.7m PCs in second quarter of this year.
• The upcoming online festivals might be a ray of hope in the consumer segment.
• The strong momentum in the government segment and the existing pipeline in the enterprise segment are something to look up to in the commercial segment.

India’s PC market outlook for 2022 is bleak due to increased channel inventory and slowing demand from consumer and commercial segments.

 “Increased channel inventory and slowing demand is a matter of concern in both the consumer and commercial segments. High inflation, fear of recession, and dollar price fluctuations might slow PC procurement, especially among startups,” Navkendar Singh,   Associate Vice-President for Devices Research at IDC India, South Asia & ANZ, said.  

However, he said that big enterprises are buying but delaying their purchases.

“Still, the upcoming online festivals might be a ray of hope in the consumer segment, while the strong momentum in the government segment and the existing pipeline in the enterprise segment are something to look up to in the commercial segment.”

However, the PC market, which includes desktops, notebooks, and workstations, had a strong second quarter, registering a 17.8 per cent year-on-year growth to 3.7 million units due to a strong spillover orders from government segment but the other segments are slowing, with channel inventory increasing.

Desktops continue its bull run

According to research firm IDC, the notebook category continued to be the volume driver with 2.6 million units, its growth rate reduced to 7.3 per cent year on year compared to over 30 per cent year on year on average for the last three quarters.

The desktop category, however, continued its strong run, shipping more than one million units for a second consecutive quarter.

The demand for PCs was rather positive through April, but it slowed in the second half of the quarter, as the reopening of colleges got pushed to the third quarter.

Online channels often

The enterprise segment grew by 14.9 per cent, much lower than the previous three quarters as order materialisation got delayed.

Similarly, the SMB growth rate was lower than in the previous two quarters, and channel inventory increased considerably as demand tapered.

 “Online channels have been softening over the last few quarters. While high footfall in offline channels led to a positive quarter for consumers, the growth tapered as schools started to open, thereby leading to reduced remote learning demand,” Bharath Shenoy,  Senior Market Analyst, PC Devices, IDC India, said.

As the opening of colleges got delayed to the third quarter this year, he said that vendors are still hoping that back-to-college promotions will bring back consumer momentum.

“Online sales are also expected to start at end of the third quarter. However, high channel inventory is a matter of concern, and an inventory correction is inevitable in the next few months.”

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