India shipped a record 4.49 million personal computers (PCs), including desktops, notebooks, and workstations, in the third quarter (Q3) of calendar year (CY) 2024, reflecting a slight 0.1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase, according to a report.

This follows a stronger 7.1% growth in Q2, which saw shipments reach 3.39 million units. In Q3, notebooks and workstations experienced Y-o-Y growth of 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively, while desktop shipments declined by 8.1%.

The report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) highlighted that online festival sales boosted demand for premium notebooks (priced above $1,000), which saw a 7.6% Y-o-Y increase.

HP Inc. dominated the market in the quarter, holding a 29% share, leading both the commercial and consumer segments with 34.3% and 24.8% shares, respectively.

Lenovo followed in second place with a 17.3% market share, while Dell and Acer tied for third at 14.6%. Asus ranked fifth with a 9.7% share, reflecting a 22.3% Y-o-Y decline, mainly due to a smaller inventory compared to the previous year. Despite this, Asus secured the second spot in the consumer segment, trailing only HP.

"The e-tail sales, which typically starts around the second week of October, began in late September, leading to a surge in PC shipments. Brands capitalised on e-tail sales by offering steep discounts, cashbacks, and bundled accessories," said Bharath Shenoy, Research Manager, IDC India and South Asia.

 "Many of them also matched similar pricing in their brand stores and offline channels like Larger Format Retail stores (LFRs), leading to the second biggest consumer quarter in history. By leveraging these diverse strategies, vendors were able to tap into different market tiers ultimately driving a significant increase in consumer PC sales," he added.

In the September quarter, the consumer segment saw a 2.9% Y-o-Y decline, despite vendors offering significant discounts on a variety of PCs through e-commerce platforms. This year's demand was more organic, with vendors avoiding overstocking, unlike in Q3 CY2023, which resulted in a slight Y-o-Y drop. Meanwhile, the commercial segment grew by 4.4% Y-o-Y, and the enterprise segment saw a 9.6% Y-o-Y increase.

Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President, Devices Research, IDC India, South Asia and ANZ said that the commercial PC market in India was on the recovery path as enterprises have slowly started refreshing their IT devices.

"The IT/ITES buying has kick-started and is expected to pick up momentum in CY2025. Meanwhile, the growing adoption of PCs for gaming and content creation coupled with the increasing focus on AI features and tools in PCs are expected to drive the consumer segment in Q4 CY2024 and CY2025, thereby facilitating it to close off 2024 and 2025 in green," he added.