Lenovo tops India PC market in Q3 2012: Gartner

As per figures posted by Gartner yesterday, the combined desk-based and mobile PC market in India reached nearly 2.9 million units in the third quarter of 2012, thereby registering a 5.9 percent decrease over the third quarter of 2011. Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst at Gartner commented, “Consumers accounted for 47 percent of total PC sales in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 55 percent in the third quarter of 2011. This emphasises the fact that despite the festive season and availability of various end user schemes on PCs, the market was impacted by high inflation, global economic uncertainty and limited share of wallet as consumers preferred to spend on other consumer durables.”

Desk-based, mobile PC market in India fell by 5.9% in Q3 2012

Gartner, in its report went on to share that White boxes (including parallel import), which accounted for 47 percent of the overall desktop market, declined 35 percent in the third quarter of 2012 as opposed to the same period last year. Interestingly, mobile PCs that managed a 23 percent year on year increase, helped drive overall market growth.  

Narrowing down further, the report added that factors like the execution of the Tamilnadu government order, coupled with a strong increase in the consumer space, helped Lenovo retain the No.1 position in the third quarter of 2012. HP’s PC shipment increased 10 percent, while that of Dell fell 22 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2011. Multinational brands contributed to more than half of the total PC shipments in the first quarter of 2012, with shipments from Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo representing 60.6 percent of the market. Local vendor HCL’s PC market share dropped to 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012, as it experienced a 43 percent year-on-year decline from the third quarter of 2011.

Gartner's India PC market figures for the second quarter of 2012 revealed that the desk-based and mobile PC market in India assembled a combined total of roughly 2.9 million units. These figures, as per Gartner Inc., mark a 17 percent increase over the second quarter of 2011. It expects the growth in PC shipments to continue over the next quarter (i.e. Q3 2012), because of the festive season and education buying, together with "some more fulfilment of the Tamilnadu Government order." 

Lenovo managed to hold on to its No.1 position in the second quarter of 2012, and this the report attributed to the "Execution of a substantial part of the Tamilnadu government order, very aggressive price points and increased channel activities." Lenovo's shipment grew 86 percent, supplementing its lead. HP's PC shipment grew 36 percent, while that of Dell dipped by 10 percent, as compared to the numbers the company posted in the second quarter of 2011. 

Going further, Gartner found that the top four multinational brands - Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo contributed 56 percent to the market. HCL's posted a flat growth of 0.2 percent in the quarter. Its market share dropped to 5.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012. 

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