Despite inflationary pressures, personal computer (PC) sales grew by 16 per cent to 93.1 lakh units in India in FY'11, compared to 80.3 lakh units in FY'10, according to an MAIT-IMRB study.
Though the growth rate was down by 2 per cent year-on-year, this was in line with the prediction of industry body Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and research firm IMRB in a joint industry performance report for FY'10.
Sales of desktops stood at 60.3 lakh units in FY'11, translating into a growth of 9 per cent year-on-year, while notebooks and netbooks recorded combined sales of 33 lakh units, a 31 per cent increase vis-a-vis the previous fiscal.
In FY'10, sales of desktops stood at 55.2 lakh units, while notebook and netbook sales amounted to 25 lakh units.
In its report for the 2009-10 financial year, MAIT had predicted sales to grow by 16 per cent to 9.35 lakh units in FY'11.
MAIT President Sandeep Nair said the industry is pleased to see the stable growth trajectory.
"The overall IT hardware industry scenario is good and stable, as it witnessed growth across all products. FY'11 has indeed been a great year for the Indian IT hardware market, as the sales have really picked up across all product segments," Nair said.
He attributed the growth to stable economic growth and an increase in disposable income, despite inflation being a constraint.
"The growth seems to be consolidated and it's bound to grow from here on. The industry is hopeful that overall PC sales will cross 126 lakh units in FY'12, registering 35 per cent annual growth," Nair said.
However, Nair said inflation, tightening of monetary policy and delays in the roll-out of wireless broadband services could skew the projected growth numbers.
"Households have contributed largely to the growth of industry. People are mostly buying PCs to support their child's education. High lending rates will hit overall sales of PCs," he said.
MAIT found that the growth in sales of notebooks and netbooks was primarily driven by the household segment, which accounted for about 57 and 75 per cent, respectively, of total sales.In the case of desktop sales, households and organisations accounted for 50 per cent each of total sales.
Nair added that the ongoing economic uncertainty could have an impact on the buying plans of organisations.
"In case of any upcoming uncertainty, establishments can put their buying decisions on hold," Nair said.
The MAIT-IMRB survey, which took stock of sales of computers, networking products, internet connections, printers and other peripherals, indicated sales growth across all segments -- except servers -- in the country.
Sales of servers continued to decline in FY'11, falling by 14 per cent to 87,275 units from 1,01,827 units in FY'10. Sales of servers have been slowing down since FY'08, when they peaked at 1,22,178 units.
The survey observed 15 per cent growth in overall printer sales to 28.7 lakh units during FY'11, compared to 6 per cent growth in FY'10.
MAIT found that the number of active entities using the internet grew by 6 per cent year on-year to cross the 13 million-mark as of March, 2011.
"By entities, we mean the number of households or organisations using the internet," Nair said.
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