4.5 mn addressable India SMB Universe offers PC vendors significant opportunities

The acceptance of multiple screens, coupled with the availability of new platform technologies, has created a market where endpoint devices span a wide range of categories. As revealed by a recent study done by AMI Partners exploring the device market among India SMBs across 90 cities, the PC market constitutes a significant opportunity for vendors. PC penetration is likely to grow due to the “Digital India” initiative. This initiative is a campaign launched by the India Government to ensure that government services are made available to citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing internet connectivity. “We need to focus on the addressable SMB Universe which is estimated at 4.5 million and we currently see considerable untapped opportunity”, said Partha Sarathi Sengupta, AVP at AMI-Partners.

The study reveals that SMBs spend on PCs (desktop, laptop and tablet) stands at $3.2 billion which is poised to grow at a CAGR of 10% over the next three years. Over 35% of this market opportunity lies beyond metro cities. Small cities like Tripur, Rajkot, Raipur and Ranchi are anticipated to display good traction. Notebooks have a higher share among PC spend by SMBs (over 60%). This spending is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% for the next three years. In addition India SMBs spend over $ 1 billion on Smartphone devices.

There has been a phenomenal increase in the mobile workforce among India SMBs in the last four years. As a result the needs for working anywhere on any PC, collaborating on smart devices and accessing and sharing on any device via the cloud have grown manifold. While SMBs are looking to migrate various workloads from PC to mobile devices, around 45% of SMBs have expressed their interest in procuring hosted solutions bundled with PC. Tablets will witness the highest growth though high end smartphones will offer stiff competition. 4G-compatible tablets may see a spurt in usage with greater 4G adoption. SMBs have started equipping employees with company provided mobile devices. “PC density among India SMBs is changing with the increase in work after business hours. The new form factors are evolving and growing in each of these 90 cities,” commented Sengupta.