HP retains lead in India’s PC market in Q3

HP held on to its pole position in India’s overall PC market with a 26.6 percent share in Q3, according to IDC.

It secured top spot in both consumer and commercial segments despite a decline in consumer shipments amid fierce competition in premium and entry-level categories.

Lenovo was second with 18 percent market share, capitalising on aggressive offers, discounts and cashback deals during festive e-tail events to drive 14.3 percent year-over-year growth in its consumer business. Its commercial performance was equally strong, up 14.5 percent year over year with standout momentum in the small office segment with 46.9 percent growth.

Acer ranked third with 15 percent share of the overall PC market, buoyed by a strong e-tail push for entry-level consumer notebooks and steady commercial gains. The vendor led the commercial desktop category with a 33.1 percent share, supported by large government and enterprise orders that reinforced its strength in traditional desktop deployments.

Coming in fourth is Dell Technologies with 14.6 percent share. This comes on the back of a recovery in the consumer space where it achieved a 10.3 percent share after several challenging quarters. Its commercial business grew 6.9 percent year over year, thanks to healthy enterprise demand and better inventory management.

Asus rounded out the top five with 10.2 percent share, leveraging a balanced mix of offline and online channels to strengthen its reach. It ranked second in the consumer segment with a 15.9 percent share and delivered its best-ever commercial quarter, shipping more than 64,000 units largely driven by SMB demand.

AI notebooks surge

Overall, India’s PC market hit a record 4.9 million units shipped in Q3, with 10.1 percent year-over-year increase driven by strong demand across both consumer and commercial segments.

AI-enabled notebooks surged 126.5 percent year over year, driven mainly by basic AI models featuring hardware-based AI capabilities, which made up 85.9 percent of all AI notebook shipments. Supported by aggressive discounts and cashback promotions, these notebooks dominated the market.

Next-generation AI notebooks gained strong traction, surpassing the milestone of 100,000 units shipped in a single quarter for the first time.

“Consumer buying patterns have shifted, with many postponing purchases after the back-to-school season to capitalise on deep discounts during e-tail festivals. This trend prompted vendors to scale back Q2 shipments and build up inventory for Q3’s major sales events, which unfolded in three waves from late September to early November,” said Bharath Shenoy, Research Manager of IDC India & South Asia.