Shipments Of Computers, Laptops, Desktops, And Tablets Declined In India But Demand Still Healthy: Report

The Indian PC market suffered a major year-on-year decline in the first quarter of this year. However, the desktops, notebooks, and tablets shipments are still surprisingly better, indicating the decline could be temporary.

Indians bought fewer computers in the first three months of 2023, compared to the same time period last year. Let's examine the statistics and understand how they might impact Indian consumers.

Consumer, Commercial, And Educational PC Segment Shipments Fell In Q1 2023

According to the latest Canalys data, the Indian PC market suffered a significant year-on-year decline. About 3.9 million units of desktop computers, laptops, and tablets were shipped in the first quarter of 2023.

Notebook shipments managed to reach just 2.1 million units, which is a sharp decline of 41 percent. Tablet shipments were down by 37 percent. Only 987,000 units of these portable computers were shipped. Tablet shipments in India fell below the million-unit mark for the first time in eight previous quarters.

Surprisingly, shipments of desktop computers fell much less dramatically at just a 7 percent decline. However, at 859,000 units, the number was also comparatively small, to begin with.

The report from Canalys indicates that PC shipments in all the important segments fell in Q1 2023. Specifically speaking, consumer, commercial, and educational segments saw a sharp decline in demand for computers in all form factors. Consumer and commercial segment shipments fell 34 percent, while education shipments were down 45 percent in Q1 2023.

Is The Indian PC Market Declining?

Smartphones have been primarily responsible for eating into the PC market. This trend is commonly observed around the world.

The exponential growth in the shipments of smartphones and the reasonable pricing strategies adopted by smartphone manufacturers has impacted PC shipments in India.

However, India's consumer base is quite large and diverse. Hence, PC manufacturers and vendors are still optimistic.

Additionally, apart from education and the government sector, gaming is one of the fastest-growing segments in India. Hence manufacturers such as Dell, HP, and others, as well as vendors who offer assembled PCs, have been positively trying to work through inventory and supply-chain hurdles posed by the pandemic.

PC manufacturers and assemblers are content that despite the decline, Q1 2023 shipments are above pre-pandemic levels. In fact, PC shipments were 47 percent higher than in Q1 2019.

Simply put, vendors are confident that demand hasn't been permanently eroded. It only needs some incentives, presumably in the form of discounts, bundles, or combo offers, to spur interest and demand.