PC growth in India

The cost of the PC is one of the reasons for the low penetration of internet. Note, you don’t hear about the cost of software being a hurdle for obvious reasons.

The price of a PC has come down over the years. I came across these numbers in TOI (Oct 25, 2008),

• The computer hardware industry has been growing 30% annually and is expected to do so till 2012.
• SMBs are the largest consumers of PCs in India. For 2007-08 the total market size was $11.5 billion and SMB contributed about $4.3 billion.
• Hardware industry has seen an investment of $18 billion
• The tax on hardware is very high in India, approx 25%, which seems to be hurting its growth.
• 4.7 million PCs were sold in the first half of 2008
• 1.25 million notebooks were sold in the first half of 2008
• Internet laptops are gaining popularity in India. HCL’s MiLeap costs about Rs 13,990. These laptops are rugged, eco-friendly and have an Intel chipset that reduces power usage.
• The consumer PC segment is one-third of total PC market in India.