PC sales cross two million units in Q1: MAIT

New Delhi, Sept 15 (UNI) PC sales have increased 17 per cent to cross the two million units mark during the first quarter of the current fiscal over the corresponding period last year, a study by MAIT today said.

''The sales of notebooks and servers witnessed a robust growth during the quarter, while growth in desktop consumption continued to remain marginal,'' the study said.

MAIT is the apex body representing the hardware, training and R &D services sectors of the IT industry in the country.

The study says despite the domestic economy being under pressure, the market sentiment for IT consumption remains positive and sales in second quarter are expected to be steady.

In the first-half of FY2008-09, desktop sales are expected to cross 2.49 million units, while notebooks sales are expected to exceed 1.35 million units.

''Notebook consumption has driven the PC market in India in Q1 2008-09. With sales crossing 0.61 million units in the first quarter of this fiscal, notebooks account for close to a third of the total PC market in the country, up from less than three per cent four years ago,'' MAIT Executive Director Vinnie Mehta said.

The first quarter was driven by increased consumption in the household segment, while industry verticals and corporate sectors such as telecom, banking and financial services, manufacturing, e-governance and IT-enabled services, experienced steady consumption.

Apart from the traditional sectors, consumption was also witnessed in SMEs, education, retail and other computer-centric small enterprises.

''Apart from the households, the education vertical is emerging as another key driver for PC consumption in the country. With privately managed schools and colleges adopting PCs at a brisk rate, PC penetration in these segments is expected to gain traction in the near future,'' Mr Mehta said.

The desktop market grossed 1.4 million units in Q1 FY2008-09, a growth of four per cent over the corresponding period last year.

However, this is 14 per cent lower than the sales in Q4 FY2007-08 (JFM) (sequential).

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