Despite a positive note in India’s computing market, how is rising component costs reshaping it? PC shipments climbed in the first quarter of 2026, while tablets posted steady gains despite mixed sector demand.
India’s personal computer (PC) market recorded strong growth during the first quarter of 2026, with shipments increasing 31.9% year-on-year (YoY) to 4.4 million units, driven by robust notebook demand, government procurement and strategic inventory build-up ahead of anticipated component price increases, according to Omdia.
Among the segments, notebook shipments rose 44.8% YoY to 3.5 million units, while desktop shipments declined 2.7%. The tablet market also expanded, with shipments increasing 5.8% YoY to 1.1 million units during the quarter.
According to the research firm, vendors and channel partners accelerated inventory purchases in response to rising memory and storage costs, allowing them to secure existing prices before anticipated increases.
This inventory front-loading contributed to a 43% increase in the consumer PC segment, supported by demand for higher-performance notebooks and aggressive online promotions.
Commercial PC shipments also remained strong, growing 25% YoY. The increase was attributed to government-backed education projects and organisations bringing forward planned device refresh programmes to avoid future cost escalation.
Meanwhile, the tablet market showed mixed performance across segments. Education tablet shipments declined 35% as public-sector organisations delayed procurement while reassessing budgets and spending priorities. However, the consumer tablet segment expanded 14%, supported by demand for premium devices offering larger displays and improved performance. Chinese manufacturers gained market share through competitively priced products.
On the other hand, the commercial tablet segment, excluding education, grew 58% as small and medium-sized businesses increasingly adopted tablets to digitise operations and improve productivity.
Omdia noted that expanding local manufacturing helped stabilise shipments during the quarter by enabling vendors to manage component-driven price increases more effectively.
Forecast for 2026
For the full year, India’s PC market is forecast to reach 15 million units in 2026, representing a 5.3% decline from 15.83 million units in 2025. Shipments are expected to recover to 15.46 million units in 2027, reflecting 3.1% annual growth.
By segment, consumer PC shipments are projected to decline from 7.05 million units in 2025 to 6.66 million units in 2026 (-5.5%), before remaining broadly stable at 6.68 million units in 2027 (+0.3%). Commercial shipments are expected to fall from 7.95 million to 7.45 million units in 2026 (-6.2%), before rebounding to 7.93 million units in 2027 (+6.4%).
Government shipments are forecast to decline 9.3% to 254,000 units in 2026 before growing 2.1% in 2027. In contrast, education PC shipments are expected to increase 11.9% to 628,000 units in 2026 before easing 5.2% the following year.
Omdia expects supply constraints in memory and storage components to continue influencing the market through 2026. Vendors are increasingly prioritising higher-value devices, reducing the availability of entry-level PCs.
At the same time, AI-enabled computers are becoming more widely available and are expected to support demand despite cautious consumer and enterprise spending.
The research firm also expects gaming systems and global capability centres (GCCs) to remain relatively resilient, as investment in specialised computing infrastructure continues.
The tablet market is forecast to grow from 4.93 million units in 2025 to 5.42 million units in 2026, representing 9.8% growth, before reaching 6.34 million units in 2027 (17.1% growth).
Consumer tablet shipments are expected to rise 3.5% in 2026, while education shipments are projected to increase 36.5%, largely depending on government procurement schedules. Government tablet shipments are forecast to grow 12.0%, whereas commercial shipments are expected to increase 3.1%.
Vendor performance in PCs
HP retained the top position in India’s PC market with 1.162 million shipments, accounting for 26.4% market share, although its share declined from 28.9% a year earlier. Acer recorded the fastest growth among leading vendors, with shipments rising 76.3% to 932,000 units, increasing its market share from 15.9% to 21.2%. Lenovo shipped 800,000 units, growing 27.9% to secure 18.2% market share. Dell shipped 516,000 units, growing 15.8%, while Apple recorded 42.3% growth, shipping 336,000 units and increasing its market share to 7.6%.
Tablet vendor rankings
Samsung remained the leading tablet vendor despite shipments declining 9.1% to 281,000 units, reducing its market share from 29.9% to 25.7%. Apple recorded the strongest growth among the top vendors, with shipments increasing 45.4% to 237,000 units, followed by Lenovo, whose shipments grew 51.5% to 189,000 units. Xiaomi shipped 139,000 tablets, growing 23.3%, while Acer’s shipments declined 30.3% to 66,000 units. Total tablet shipments reached 1.091 million units, up from 1.031 million units in the corresponding quarter last year.
