Fuelled by AI laptops and festive buying, India’s PC market hits a record 4.9 million quarterly shipments, marking its strongest performance and reshaping consumer demand.
India’s traditional PC market reached a new milestone in the third quarter of 2025, with shipments climbing to 4.9 million units. According to recent data by International Data Corporation (IDC), this marks a 10.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase and the highest quarterly performance ever recorded, surpassing the previous peak of 4.5 million units in the same period last year.
All categories reported strong growth. Notebooks, the largest segment, rose 9.5 per cent YoY. Desktop shipments increased by 11.6 per cent, helped by steady institutional demand. Workstations registered the fastest expansion at 14.2 per cent. Premium notebooks priced above US$1,000 grew 8.5 per cent, while AI-enabled notebooks continued their rapid ascent, recording a 126.5 per cent surge.
Meanwhile, basic AI notebooks made up 85.9 per cent of these shipments, supported by discounts and cashback schemes. Next-generation AI notebooks crossed the 100,000-unit mark for the first time in a single quarter.
The commercial and consumer segments both contributed to the growth. The commercial market rose 11.4 per cent year-on-year, driven by enterprise refresh cycles and higher spending by small and medium businesses, which grew 18.8 per cent and 13.1 per cent respectively.
Consumer shipments reached a record 2.8 million units as vendors stocked up ahead of an early festive season. The e-tail channel also saw its best performance yet with 997,000 units shipped.
“PC shipments surged in the consumer segment as demand strengthened across all channels,” said Bharath Shenoy, research manager at IDC India and South Asia. He noted that many consumers delayed purchases after the back-to-school season to take advantage of deep discounts during online festivals, prompting vendors to push more inventory into the third quarter.
Among the market players, HP led the overall market with a 26.6 per cent share. Lenovo followed with 18 per cent, ahead of Acer at 15 per cent, Dell at 14.6 per cent, and Asus at 10.2 per cent.
Navkendar Singh, associate vice president at IDC, said Windows refresh orders would continue to support the market, though he cautioned about potential inventory corrections and supply-related delays. He added that consumer demand should remain steady through the first half of 2026.
