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Indians are increasingly taking to smart phones rather than PCs. However, PC makers are doing all they can to boost sales, considering PC penetration is low in India and it is the object of choice for first-time users.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the smartphone market is expected to double in 2012 from the previous year while the portable PC market will grow 31 per cent from 2011.
“The growth rate of smartphones is higher than PC growth rate, but we have witnessed resurgence in PC market driven by consumer demand from Tier II and Tier III cities coupled with government investments in the sector,” Dr Adwaita Menon, Associate Research Director at IDC, told Business Line .
According to IDC, the PC market is expected to grow 10.1 per cent to reach 11.7 million units of shipments against 7.4 per cent growth in 2011 from 2010, with portable PCs toppling desktops to growth of 31 per cent.
“Commoditisation is driving growth into semi-urban markets, which have shown faster growth than metros. Vendors are focusing on high-margin products such as AIOs and small portables to maintain the growth momentum and margins,” Dr Menon of IDC said. The assembled PC market, though, remains hit by shift in consumer purchase towards portable PCs.
Yet, companies in India that are PC-focused are entering new areas of business. Lenovo is getting into a “PC+” segment that includes PCs, smartphones, tablets and Smart TVs with applications and cloud integration, according to Mr Rajesh Thadani, Director, Consumer Business Segment, Lenovo India.
Acer too, is said to have plans to launch smart phones soon.
The smartphone market in India is expected to double this year to reach 19 million units in shipments from 11 million in 2011 and 6 million in 2010. IDC expects this to go up to 108 million in shipments by 2016.
However, experts believe that growth of smartphones will not mar the growth of the PC market in India considering the varied usage of the two devices.
“A smartphone cannot do the job of a PC and vice-versa the two devices should coexist,” Mr Vishal Tripathy, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner pointed out. He said that one who has the need for a PC cannot make-do with a smartphone. He also noted that tablets could affect PC sales but a smart phone will not.
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