PC sales record 7 per cent negative growth for the first time ever: MAIT

New Delhi: Overwhelming impact of economic slowdown in second-half of the fiscal has led to a negative growth in prsonal computer sales in India for the first time ever.
The total PC sales between April 2008 and March 2009, with desktop computers, notebooks and netbooks taken together, were 67.9 lakh units, registering a decline of seven per cent over the previous year, said the IT manufacturering body MAIT in its Industry Performance Review for fiscal 2008-09.

ITOPS is a syndicated end-user based study on the IT hardware market conducted by the eTechnology Group of IMRB International since 1996-97. The study is based on over 25,000 face-to-face interviews with end-users spread over 22 cities, with data projected to the 'all India urban market'. The MAIT-IMRB study involves data collection after the 'last mile' that the product travels, ie from the premise where the product is finally installed.

IT consumption in 2008-09 was severely impacted, especially in the second-half of the fiscal year, by the slowdown in the Indian economy. Impact on consumption of notebooks was most pronounced as growth plummeted to a negative 17 per cent compared to a high of one-hundred-and-fourteen per cent in the previous year. Sales of desktops declined four percent.

The October-November-December quarter was the most adversely impacted, subsequent to which growth in PC consumption started to show signs of revival. With business sentiment gradually gaining momentum, PC consumption in fiscal 2009-10 is expected to cross 7.3 million units, registering a seven per cent growth.

"Consumer sentiment was subdued due to uncertainty in the economy in 2008-09 which impacted the consumption of IT in the country, " said MAIT executive director, Vinnie Mehta.

"While consumption in the first-half of the fiscal was satisfactory, less than expected offtake in sales in the second-half pulled down the overall growth into the negative quadrant. A silver lining in the second-half of 2008-09 was the emergence of a new product category, the net book that took the fancy of the consumers. This new form-factor appeared to be better insulated from the prevailing market sentiments."