Sales Of PC In India Surges By 14% In Jul-Sept Due To Import Licensing Notice

New Delhi, Nov 17 (KNN) During the third quarter of the current fiscal, the sale of personal computers (PCs) in India, including desktops and notebooks, rose 14 per cent to 4.5 million units, as compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from the International Data Corporation (IDC).

In its Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, IDC said that the desktop category grew by 19.3 per cent while the notebooks saw a rise of 13.1 per cent. The rise in sales was attributed to higher demand for inventory owing to the Centre's decision to impose import licenses for PCs.

“In August, the Government of India declared a mandatory requirement of import licenses for PCs from October 30. Though this decision was later put on hold, vendors shipped significant channel inventory to avoid any risks of supply shortages or price hikes, not to mention ensuring sufficient supplies for festival season sales,” said Bharath Shenoy, senior research analyst, IDC India.

Under the proposed norms, IT hardware companies will be required to register and disclose data related to their imports and the countries they import from.

According to the Centre, the main reason behind the measure is to restrict imports of laptops and computers, especially since a majority of them come from China.

It was supposed to be implemented immediately but was later deferred due to objections from the industry. Now, it has been working on a new management system to give import authorisation to IT companies.  

In the PC market, the consumer segment saw healthy growth of 26.3 per cent, while demand in the commercial segment remained flat.

(KNN Bureau)