The Desktop market in India finally got commoditized, a trend that developed economies experienced some years ago. That means margin pressures and slow growth for sure, and, consolidations possibly. It also means that India no longer offers any special market characteristics, as was the case in the past. What is true in America is now true in India as well. Well, almost.

The US happens to be the global epicenter of the PC battle, as the two giantsDell and HPfight it out. The strategies they formulate are felt across other geographies they operate in. Dell has been HPs arch rival, and of late the former has been getting the better of HP. Carly Fiorina, the erstwhile (and controversial) CEO of HP, never got it right. But that seems to be changing. HP, under the stewardship of Mark Hurd, has started to gain lost ground. As per a Gartner report in JFM 07, HP overtook Dell and secured the top spot globally. HPs share of the PC market reached 17.6% while Dells share fell to 13.9%. In India, HP enjoys an even stronger position.

Slow Growth, High Realization
The Indian desktop market grew 10.7% in volume terms to reach 4.5 mn in unit shipments, according to IDC India. The overall market, based on end-user average selling value (ASV), according to IDC India, grew 17.5% to reach Rs 12,839 crore. According to DQ estimates, the market grew 13% to reach Rs 10,997 crore, from the vendor ASV perspective.

Whether you take the end-user or the vendor price, the fact remains that the average selling value actually increased in FY 07. This is in contrast to the southward trend in prices that this market has witnessed for years. This is part of the consumerization trend, whereby unlike laptops, the prices have stabilized with respect to volumes. A larger off-take of high-end PCs, along with a shift towards TFT monitors, means that the user actually ended up paying a higher price to buy desktop PCs.

At the end of FY 07, the total installed base of PCs in the country crossed 22 mn, as per IDC India. That is a PC for every 50 Indians.

HP Pips HCL to the Post
HP overtook HCL to take the top spot and managed to garner a 16.6% share in volume terms. Over the year, it aggressively targeted the SMBs and kept gaining mindshare. It also invested in channel enhancement programs to get the most out of the addressable market for PC desktops. HP also got desktops of various form factors to market cutting across microtower, minitower and the small form factor.

On the consumer side, HP aggressively pitched digital lifestyle PCs and launched products along its Fashiontronics concept. The companys PC campaign was also quite focused last year with its tag line. The Computer is Personal Again. HP with the right mix of products, an aggressive campaign and a well defined go-to-market strategy, managed to secure a very good year for its desktop business.

Inching very close to HP was HCL Infosystems which emerged as the market leader in the commercial desktops space and secured an overall number two position for FY 07 according to IDC India. HCL registered total unit sales of 693,717 desktops. With the consumer space being the big opportunity for extra volumes, HCL capitalized on the growing trendsconvergence and digital lifestyle by launching its Beanstalk 2007 collection. It introduced Beanstalk Nano, a desktop that introduced Mobile-on-Desktop-Technology (MoDT), Intel ViiV and other innovative technology options for the first time in the Indian marketplace.

Page(s)   1  2