The personal computer market is set to grow by 22 per cent in this financial year and may record sales of 6.5 million units. According to the Manufacturers' Association for Information and Technology, strong macroeconomic conditions and buoyant buying sentiments in the market led by demand from various industry verticals will spur the growth.
MAIT also announced that the total PC sales between October and December 2006, including desktop computers and notebooks, were 1.39 million units, registering a growth of 28 per cent over the same period last financial year.
According to the report, the rise in the sales in the third quarter was due to "increased consumption in the household segment while industry verticals and corporate sectors such as telecom, banking and financial services, manufacturing and IT-enabled services, experienced growth, these are expected to gain further momentum in the fourth quarter of the financial year".
They also attributed the growth to the rise in consumption in SMEs, education and retail along with the "aggressive pricing" by the PC vendors, which helped improve the PC penetration, especially in households and SME segments.
The bi-annual report stated that desktop market grossed 12 lakh units in Q3 FY07, a growth of 24 per cent over the corresponding period a year ago. Although it is 20 per cent lower than the sales in Q2/2006-07 (JAS) (sequential), sales are expected to be buoyant in the quarter January-March as IT sales peak in the last quarter (JFM) of the financial year.
It was reported that notebook sales touched 195K units recording 56 per cent growth over the third quarter in FY06. Drop in prices and benefits of mobility and space management have contributed to the increased sales of notebooks.
MAIT Executive Director Vinnie Mehta said, "The growth of the IT consumption in the country is making India an attractive destination for manufacturing investments. We welcome the slew of encouraging policy measures announced by the government to promote hardware and electronics manufacturing."
He added that the new Fab Policy is all set to redefine the face of IT manufacturing in the country especially in boosting high capital-intensive activities like the manufacture of semiconductors, LCDs, storage devices and so on.
Further, the recently announced 'Hi-tech Products Exports Promotion Scheme' in the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy will help boost hardware exports from India, Mehta said.
