India PC market likely to end 2023 on a low note

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

India’s personal computer market is projected to close 2023 as one of its dullest years, with shipments of 12-13 million units as against 14.8 million each in 2022 and 2021, according to estimates from International Data Corporation (IDC).

Shipments of PCs including laptops were lower at 10.3 million units in 2020, when sales were disrupted by the pandemic.

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While India shipments mirror a slowdown in the global PC market triggered by weak demand and due to supply chain diversification, the local market has already started showing signs of a recovery, according to sector experts.

In India, sales have been sluggish for the past several quarters barring the July-September period, when the shipments were the highest on record for a quarter. Experts said the sharp uptick was an exception and driven by hoarding of inventory by brands before restrictions on PC imports came to effect on November 1 as the government had then announced.

PC sales declined every quarter between July 2022 and June 2023 across both online and offline channels, due to slowing demand and an inventory pile up, said Bharath Shenoy, senior research analyst at IDC. “Even the festive offers could not lift the sentiment.”

The government decision, announced in August to make import licences compulsory for PCs, led to a scramble for importing the devices before the deadline, Shenoy said. “Though this decision was later put on hold, vendors shipped significant channel