PC penetration in urban India has doubled in 3 years: Study
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 23 August 2010, 20:02 IST   |    18 Comments
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Bangalore: PC penetration in urban India has doubled in the last three years from 19 percent to 38 percent across SEC A, B and C. This study also reveals that PC desirability is on the upswing across the SECs with the desirability having increased by over 100 percent in SEC C. The study was conducted across 82 cities sampling over 19000 households. Urban households have doubled in the last three years from 19 percent to 38 percent which means that nearly 28 million households in Urban India now have a PC. What's even more significant is that the penetration of PCs in SEC B and SEC C though on a smaller base has increased over 100 percent. This is also further amplified by the fact that there has been a dramatic increase in PC desirability from 35 percent to 57 percent amongst SEC A-C households in Urban India with the desirability of SEC C having shown a dramatic increase of over 100 percent from 26 percent to 54 percent. Clearly this signals that owning a personal computer is no more restricted to the upwardly mobile urban users. Commenting on this effort, R.Sivakumar, Managing Director, Sales & Marketing, Intel South Asia said "This is an exciting time for the Indian PC market and the recently concluded study by Intel and IMRB has revealed that reiterates the same. We have always believed that the personal computer is a multi-functional device that consumers can use to work, learn and play, most importantly it helps people to take full advantage of today's technological advances and prepare for tomorrow's challenges." The study reveals that the personal computing market is not seeing a classical evolution pattern of consumers using a desktop first and then moving to notebooks. Today more and more first time buyers are buying notebooks as their first computer. In 2006, 41 percent of the PC non-owners opted to put desktops in their wish list while only a mere 17 percent opted for notebooks. However in 2009 the percentage of non owners opting for Notebooks in their wish list doubled to a whopping 31percent while those opting for a desktop PC stayed relatively flat at 44 percent. Clearly a significant percentage increase in willingness to adopt Notebooks is reflective of the 'on the go' convenient lifestyle of the population. The overall PC market has grown significantly over the last three years and one of the greatest contributors of this growth is the youth of India who clearly are the torch bearers for PC adoption in India. The study reveals that though pester power begins early, it is only the older youth who have a significant influence on the final purchase of the PC. Youth in the age group of 18-25 are able to play a significant role as facilitators during the actual purchase of the PC. Some of the other key findings of the survey indicate that all socio - economic class buyers do not buy low, they sensibly seek value in the PC & how it can impact their daily life in a positive manner. However, perceptions of complexity in using a PC still exist where PCs are not viewed as intuitive.

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