MAIT study says PC sales up by 34 p.c.

By K.Satyamurty

BANGALORE, JULY 19. The Manufaturers Association of Information Technolgy (MAIT) has announced its Annual Industry Performance Study for 2000-01 that has (revealed) a steady growth of the hardware sector. The study was conducted for MAIT by the leading market research firm, Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB).

The desktop PC market crosssed 1.88 million units, registering a growth of 34 per cent over the previous year. PC sales showed 37 per cent growth in 1999-2000 over the previous fiscal year. Earlier, due to slow take-off in the first six months, the sales projection for 2000-01 had been revised from 1.9 million unit to 1.175 million units, but the annual performance exceeded industry expectations.

The assembled PCs, including small and lesser-known regional brands and unbranded systems, accounted for 53 per cent of P.C. sales in 2000-01 registering a growth of 22 per cent over the previous year. With a growth of 59 per cent, the market share of MNC brands increased from 23 to 27 per cent. The Indian brands accounted for 20 per cent of the market. In fact, the share of Indian brands significantly had come down in the last two years from 25 per cent in 1998-99.

The study showed that PC sales to the business segment grew by 31 per cent, while it grew by 45 per cent in the case of home users, compares to last year. The business segment continued to account for the major chunk of the market--78 per cent. Within businesses, the larger users (with 50 or more employees) grew at 71 per cent. However, the small and medium businesses taken together registered a growth of only 11 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, showing caution in IT spending.

Smaller establishments registered a growth of 50 per cent in 1999-00 accounting for over 25 per cent of the total PC sales. The share of small and medium enterprises came down from 35 and 26 per cent in 1999-00 to 27 and 22 per cent respectively in 2000-01. In the second half of 2000-01, larger businesses showed a significant growth of 79 per cent over the corresponding period the previous year.

In terms of Processor configuration, PC sales were dominated by Pentium III, which accounted for 75 per cent of the market share ; 66 per cent of these PCs were 550 MHz and above. The second half of 2000 also marked the entry of Pentium IV processors, which accounted for four per cent of the market share. This reflected the increased need for faster processing speeds for the Internet and its applications. Sales of processors with with lesser speeds lost in market share.

The Networking market witnessed an impressive growth. Over 1.19 million Network Interface Cards (NICs), over 2.12 lakh hubs and seven lakh modems were sold in 2000-01, showing growth of 72 per cent, 67 per cent and 43 per cent respetively. Interestingly, the home-user segment accounted for 51 per cent of modem sales in the second half of the year, a growth of 63 per cent. The high growth rate of modems could be attributed to the fast growing Internet penetration in the country.

According to the MAIT-IMRB study, printer sales showed a growth of 40 per cent over the previous year; sales of dot-matrix printers grew by 18 per cent, laser printers by 13 per cent and inkjet printers by 72 per cent.

The study noted certain significant trends in buying and usage pattern. The increase in PC sales was accounted for by increased purchases by larger corporates and MNCs, predominantly through network expansion. Repeat buyers constituted 58 per cent of the market. Notebook computer sales remained concentrated in the large business segment, which accounted for 60 per cent. The total sales of UPS in 2000-01 increased by 68 per cent. The market for larger-sized monitors increased by 64 per cent.

The number of active Internet subscribers increased to 1.2 million by March 2001, resulting in 67 per cent penetration among PC-owning business establishments and 54 per cent in homes with PCs.

The Industry Review by MAIT is bi-annual and aims to address the hardware sector's effortsto manage the business environment, gauge market potential and consumer trends. The study covered interviews with over 14,000 respondents.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : FUTA-K demands retention of Senate and Academic
           Council
Next     : Liquor tragedy: Six found guilty, four acquitted