The Hindu Business Line : Education sector demand fuels PC growth

Hyderabad, Aug. 27 With the education sector emerging as one of the major consumers of personal computers, original equipment manufacturers have begun to line up products custom-designed with the child in mind.

The ‘pester power’ of the child is such that parents stretch out a little more to buy them PCs that appeal to them even if they come with additional costs.

The growth of PCs, with schools making computer learning compulsory, is such that Lenovo has partnered with Disney to offer Lenovo Disney PCs, while others like LG have come up with innovative models and offerings.

“Such a move is the result of early initiation of computer learning in schools which calls for investment in a personal computer. Apart from offering features necessary for education, these computers combine entertainment options making it lot more attractive to a buyer,” Mr Rahul Agarwal, Vice-President-Marketing, Lenovo India, said.

Mr Agarwal told Business Line that Lenovo recently launched Power Rangers limited edition signature desktop, partnering with Disney Consumer Products.

Laptop market surges

“With schools, colleges and management schools, particularly the latter requiring a student to have laptops, the market for laptops has surged. However, we find that even in schools, some parents who can afford a laptop, prefer to buy it for their kid,” he explained.

Even though the price of laptops has come down, there continues to be some price differential.

Yet data indicates that the ratio of desktop PCs and laptops is narrowing like in the West. While this gap has bridged significantly in some markets, India will be no exception to this, Mr Agarwal said.

According to the IDC data, while the desktop PCs witnessed growth of about 11 per cent year-on-year for the year ended March 31, the growth in the notebook PCs was rather marked at about 85.6 per cent.

The installed PC base crossed 22 million, more than doubling in the last three years and is poised for rapid growth, with education segment playing a big role.