The Hindu Business Line : PC sales to rise 50 pc this year, says Skoch

DESPITE the perceived trade barriers existing in the traditional US market, the total revenues from software exports grew by 30 per cent in calendar year 2003, to reach $10.4 billion, according to an IT market analysis by Skoch Consultancy Services.

The main gains came from the back-end BPO services of local and multinational companies operating from the country, contributing about one-third ($3.4 billion) of the export revenues, with a notable increase of 71 per cent over the previous year, the analysis has noted.

It also points out that personal computer sales in the country registered a growth of 32 per cent during calendar year 2003 at 2.3 million units, aided by a sharp fall in computer prices. The average unit price of a PC has come down to just Rs 38,390 from Rs 51,580 in 1997 and this decline has resulted in increased sales, particularly in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector, homes and in non-metro cities.

The major gainers were HCL and Zenith, as they together expanded their market share by three percentage points.

"Likewise, after the introduction of sub $1000 notebooks, the notebook sales registered an unprecedented 78 per cent growth to sell 87,499 units," the Skoch analysis has noted.

According to the forecast, there will be a 50-per cent growth in the PC unit shipment in 2004 and about 1.2 million additional PCs would be sold during the year with a total volume of 3.5 million units.

Announcing these findings, Mr Sameer Kochchar, CEO, Skoch, noted that some organised PC players might not be in a position to grab their share fully as their marketing strategies are not in place.

Among the irritants are poor retail footprint, low marketing spends, slow organisational ramp ups, indifferent services and low vibrancy in product range, he said.

"As a result, a good part of the additional opportunity would go to the unorganised sector, though its total market share would fall from the current 57 per cent because of price cuts offered by organised players. Thus, the market would continue to be fragmented and new PC players are expected to enter the market to tap the emerging opportunity," he noted.