The Hindu Business Line : PC sales for Q3 up 28%

Stronger demand
Total PC sales at 13.95 lakh units
Desktop market grew 24 pc to 12 lakh units
Assembled PCs accounted for 45 pc of sales

New Delhi May 2 The Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), the apex body representing the hardware, training and R&D services sectors of the IT Industry, on Tuesday said that the total personal computer (PC) sales between October and December 2006 registered a growth of 28 per cent over the same period last fiscal.

The total PC sales (including desktop computers and notebooks taken together, were at 13.95 lakh units during the period.

Notebook sales were up 56 per cent at 1.95 lakh units.

According to a MAIT release, the high growth in notebook consumption was because of drop in prices and the additional benefit of mobility and space management.

The desktop market during the three-month period grew 24 per cent to touch 12 lakh units.

According to the MAIT-IMRB study, the assembled PC segment accounted for 45 per cent of the sales in the third quarter of the 2006-07 fiscal, while the proportion of the branded PCs was 55 per cent.

MNC brands accounted for 44 per cent of the market, while the Indian brands accounted for the rest of the 11 per cent.

The release added that the third quarter was driven by increased consumption in the household segment and corporate sectors.

The release also said that apart from the traditional sectors, consumption was also seen in SMEs, education, retail and other computer-centric small enterprises.

The printer market also continued to be vibrant as sales of laser printers grew 45 per cent and that of inkjet printers by 30 per cent.

However, the consumption of dot-matrix printers remained flat.

The UPS market witnessed an increase of 36 per cent on an annual basis.