India’s PC market grows at its fastest rate in a decade as shipments jump 45% in 2021 

Shanghai (China), Bengaluru (India), Singapore, Reading (UK) and Portland (US) – Thursday, 24 March 2022

India’s PC market grew 45% in 2021, with shipments of desktops, notebooks and tablets reaching 18.6 million units. This was the best year for India since 2013, when shipments grew by 29%. This is a notable achievement, considering most of India was under lockdown in Q1 and Q2, when the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. While the pandemic dampened business activities to a large extent, it also fueled demand for PCs, especially as students and professionals found themselves out of schools and offices for a prolonged period. Notebooks made up 63% of total shipments, with 11.8 million units shipping, up by 49% year on year and accounting for most of the market growth. Tablets reached 4.4 million units shipped, up 48%, a contrast to the global fall of 3%. 2.4 million desktops shipped, up 27% on 2020.

India PC (including tablets) shipments (market share and annual growth)

Canalys PC Market Pulse: 2021

Vendor

2021
shipments

2021
market share

2020
shipments

2020
market share

Annual
growth

HP

4,677

25.1%

2,948

23.0%

58.6%

Lenovo

4,287

23.0%

3,295

25.7%

30.1%

Dell

2,590

14.0%

1,843

14.4%

40.5%

Samsung

1,344

7.2%

673

5.3%

99.8%

Acer

1,261

6.8%

781

6.1%

61.5%

Others

4,453

23.9%

3,262

25.5%

36.5%

Total

18,612

100.0%

12,802

100.0%

45.4%

Note: Unit shipments in thousands. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Canalys PC Analysis (sell-in shipments), February 2022

“While this seems like a great year on paper, it is important to consider 2021 not just as a standalone year but in relation to 2020,” said Jash Shah, Research Analyst at Canalys. “When the pandemic hit in 2020 and PC supplies were squeezed, vendors naturally prioritized western markets, such as the US and Western Europe, leaving markets like India with a reduced supply. India’s PC shipments fell 3% in 2020, creating a lot of pent-up demand, which was amplified due to the second COVID-19 wave in the first half of 2021, leading to the record growth that we’ve seen this year.”

“While 2021 saw a huge jump in shipments, the same is not expected of 2022 in India,” said Shah. “We will see major corrections, especially in the consumer market, affecting notebooks and tablets. But there will be stronger demand from SMBs and enterprise customers, as the number of COVID-19 cases falls, vaccination rates surge, and businesses and schools return to normal. Key themes will remain local production of PCs, important from a government orders fulfilment perspective, and commercial upgrades, which will be spurred by the return to offices and new policies around hybrid working. PCs in education remain a major opportunity in the long term, given India’s low student PC ownership ratios. But as students return to school, demand is expected to soften in the short term. The threat, however, lies not in local demand, but in global supply. As China takes a strong stance on its Zero-COVID policy, implementing lockdowns in major manufacturing hubs across the country, supply disruptions will occur, and India is again expected to get the short end of the stick.”

India PC (including tablets) shipments (market share and annual growth)

Canalys PC Market Pulse: Q4 2021

Vendor

Q4 2021
shipments

Q4 2021
market share

Q4 2020
shipments

Q4 2020
market share

Annual
growth

HP

1,321

25.0%

785

21.7%

68.3%

Lenovo

1,151

21.8%

795

21.9%

44.7%

Dell

805

15.2%

604

16.7%

33.2%

Acer

362

6.9%

203

5.6%

78.0%

Apple

359

6.8%

179

5.0%

100.0%

Others

1,286

24.3%

1,059

29.2%

21.5%

Total

5,283

100.0%

3,625

100.0%

45.7%

Note: Unit shipments in thousands. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Canalys PC Analysis (sell-in shipments), February 2022

PC shipments in Q4 2021 reached a total of 5.3 million units, up 46% on Q4 2020, and 67% on Q4 2019, when 3.2 million units shipped. Notebooks grew 40% to reach 3.3 million shipments, while desktop shipments were up 70% year on year to surpass 700,000 units for the first time in eight quarters. Tablet shipments grew 49% over the same period last year to reach 1.3 million units. Most of this growth is due to companies such as Lenovo and Samsung, which have increased their ability to fulfil orders by manufacturing locally.

India desktop and notebook shipments (market share and annual growth)

Canalys PC Market Pulse: Q4 2021

Vendor

Q4 2021
shipments

Q4 2021
market share

Q4 2020
shipments

Q4 2020
market share

Annual
growth

HP

1,321

32.8%

785

28.2%

68.3%

Dell

804

20.0%

604

21.7%

33.1%

Lenovo

714

17.7%

540

19.4%

32.3%

Acer

340

8.4%

189

6.8%

80.1%

Apple

187

4.7%

105

3.8%

78.6%

Others

662

16.4%

558

20.1%

18.6%

Total

4,028

100.0%

2,781

100.0%

44.9%

Note: Unit shipments in thousands. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Canalys PC Analysis (sell-in shipments), February 2022

 

India desktop and notebook shipments (market share and annual growth)

Canalys PC Market Pulse: 2021

Vendor

2021
shipments

2021
market share

2020
shipments

2020
market share

Annual
growth

HP

4,677

33.0%

2,948

30.1%

58.7%

Lenovo

2,733

19.3%

2,225

22.7%

22.8%

Dell

2,588

18.3%

1,843

18.8%

40.4%

Acer

1,160

8.2%

723

7.4%

60.5%

Asus

873

6.2%

649

6.6%

34.5%

Others

2,134

15.1%

1,407

14.4%

51.7%

Total

14,165

100.0%

9,795

100.0%

44.6%

Note: Unit shipments in thousands. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Canalys PC Analysis (sell-in shipments), February 2022

Vendor performances

  • HP accelerated in Q4 2021 to knock Lenovo into second place, taking 25.0% of the total market with 1.3 million PCs shipped, an impressive growth of 68%. HP solidified its dominance in notebook and desktop shipments, accounting for 32% and 35% in each category, with year-on-year growth rates of 58% and 134% respectively. The vendor has committed to the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, amplifying its local production portfolio from just desktops a few quarters ago to notebooks, enabling them to feature competitively in the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
  • Lenovo took second place overall (tablets included) in Q4 2021, marginally behind HP, accounting for 21.8% of the total PC market with 1.2 million PC shipments. Lenovo grew shipments 45% year on year to maintain its growth streak, backed by strong growth in notebooks and tablets, which were up 49% and 71% year on year respectively. The partnership with Wingtech to manufacture tablets pushed Lenovo’s tablet share up to 42% in the second half of 2021 from 26% in the first half. Lenovo’s desktop shipments in India remained poor throughout the pandemic, falling by 30% in Q4 2021 to reach 82,000 units.
  • Dell finished third with just over 800,000 shipments in Q4 2021, accounting for 15% of the total PC market (including tablets) and up by 33% year on year. Dell saw exceptional growth rates across all consumer and commercial segments. In Q4 2021, consumer shipments grew by 58%, while commercial shipments grew 29% year on year.
  • Acer maintained fourth place in PC shipments (including tablets), surpassing the 300,000 mark for a third quarter in a row. In Q4 2021, Acer shipped 362,000 units, up 78% year on year. This surge was fueled by Acer’s tremendous 187% year-on-year increase in desktop shipments to 174,000 units. This put it second only to HP in desktops and ended eight quarters of falling shipments for Acer.
  • Apple moved up the ranks in Q4 2021 to take fifth place in overall PC shipments (including tablets), rocketing by 100% year on year to a record 359,000 shipments in a single quarter. Aided by the launch of new iPads in September 2021, Apple’s tablet shipments continued to climb, reaching a new high of 172,000 units in Q4 2021, up 130% on last year. MacBook shipments surged by 85% year on year to 187,000 units, strongly bolstered by the costing strategy of the M1-powered notebooks.

India tablet shipments (market share and annual growth)

Canalys PC market pulse: Q4 2021

Vendor

Q4 2021
 shipments

Q4 2021
market share

Q4 2020
shipments

Q4 2020
market share

Annual
growth

Lenovo

436

34.8%

255

30.2%

71.0%

Samsung

317

25.3%

197

23.4%

60.8%

Apple

172

13.7%

75

8.8%

130.1%

Lava

110

8.8%

-

-

N/A

TCL

22

1.8%

25

3.1%

-13.5%

Others

197

15.6%

292

34.5%

-32.5%

Total

1,255

100.0%

845

100.0%

48.5%

Note: Unit shipments in thousands. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Canalys PC Analysis (sell-in shipments), February 2022

 

India tablet shipments (market share and annual growth)

Canalys PC market pulse: 2021

Vendor

2021
shipments

2021
market share

2020
shipments

2020
market share

Annual
growth

Lenovo

1,554

35.0%

1,070

35.6%

45.2%

Samsung

1,344

30.2%

673

22.4%

99.8%

Apple

547

12.3%

272

9.1%

100.9%

Lava

110

2.5%

-

-

N/A

Acer

101

2.3%

58

1.9%

74.2%

Others

791

17.7%

935

31.0%

-15.4%

Total

4,447

100.0%

3,008

100.0%

47.9%

Note: Unit shipments in thousands. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Canalys PC Analysis (sell-in shipments), February 2022

For more information, please contact:

Jash Shah (India): jash_shah@canalys.com +91 95661 11317
Ashweej Aithal (India): ashweej_aithal@canalys.com +91 97386 19281

About Canalys

Canalys is an independent analyst company that strives to guide clients on the future of the technology industry and to think beyond the business models of the past. We deliver smart market insights to IT, channel and service provider professionals around the world. We stake our reputation on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology and our high level of customer service.

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 India’s PC market grows at its fastest rate in a decade as shipments jump 45% in 2021 

 


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