PC shipments in India grew 43 percent in Q2 2021 to 4.1 million units, comprising half a million desktops, 2.5 million notebooks and 1.0 million tablets, Canalys report said.
Almost all categories grew by double-digit percentages, mainly due to a lackluster performance in Q2 2020, when the entire country was under lockdown.
Shipments of notebooks, the largest category by volume, grew 43 percent over Q2 2020. Tablets had one of their best quarters since 2016, with 52 percent year-on-year shipment growth. Desktop shipments were up by 23 percent.
HP maintained its leadership position with PC shipments up 54 percent year on year in Q2 2021. HP has managed to consolidate its PC market share by doubling down on consumer products. HP launched its affordable Victus gaming series in India. HP grew its notebook shipments by 59 percent.
Lenovo finished in second place with 3 percent growth in Q2 2021. Part of the reason for this slower-than-average growth was its strong performance in Q2 2020, when it managed its supply chain better than its competitors and ensured healthy market sell-in.
Lenovo is yet to make a dent in the consumer PC space and so didn’t benefit from the healthy market recovery there. Lenovo’s notebook shipments fell by 3 percent while its tablet shipments grew 16 percent in Q2 2021.
Dell came in third with a 12.8 percent market share, growing 40 percent annually. Dell grew in all product categories and maintained its stronghold in the commercial segment, where it has seen 71 percent year-on-year growth. Dell has been quick to flood the market with Intel’s 11th Gen SKUs, which has been instrumental in its popularity among enterprises.
Samsung finished fourth thanks to its strong tablet business. Samsung grew shipments by 134 percent. Samsung is uniquely positioned to benefit from the cost-conscious device procurement happening across India to support multiple government and educational institutions.
Canalys expects Samsung to benefit from the drive to remote learning and its connected tablets will be at the forefront of this seismic shift in education in India.
Acer finished fifth as the PC vendor topped Apple and grew its shipments by 95 percent. Acer managed to return to the level of shipments it had pre-pandemic and is now focused on providing affordable computing to the consumer segment via its Chromebook offerings with leading online retailers in India.
“The market has finally returned to pre-COVID shipment levels,” said Canalys Research Analyst Ashweej Aithal. “While desktops and notebooks haven’t really seen a major bump in shipments, tablets are in much higher demand than before, resurrecting what was a dying category in India.”
