India PC shipments surpass pandemic peak as first-time users upgrade

India’s PC marketplace had its strongest twelvemonth connected grounds successful 2025, surpassing the surge successful request during the COVID-19 pandemic arsenic millions of first-time buyers who purchased laptops during lockdowns began upgrading their devices.

Shipments of desktops, notebooks, and workstations successful India rose 10.2% twelvemonth implicit year to 15.9 cardinal units successful 2025, according to analysts astatine IDC. The full marks the archetypal clip yearly shipments person crossed the 15-million-unit milestone, surpassing the peaks seen successful 2021 and 2022.

Pandemic-driven lockdowns exposed galore radical successful India to PCs for the archetypal time, expanding the country’s PC userbase and creating request for upgrades arsenic those devices age, Bharath Shenoy, a probe manager astatine IDC, told TechCrunch. Growing digitization, rising PC adoption among startups and tiny businesses, and wider availability of devices successful smaller cities person besides supported demand, helium added.

India’s stock of planetary PC shipments roseate to 5.6% successful 2025 from 3.3% successful 2020, IDC information shared with TechCrunch shows. Worldwide PC shipments grew 8.1% to 284.7 cardinal units successful 2025, according to IDC’s earlier report. The South Asian federation remains 1 of the fastest-growing PC markets arsenic request expands beyond large cities.

Commercial buyers accounted for 52.9% of PC shipments successful India successful 2025, portion the user conception made up the remaining 47.1%, IDC said.

Enterprise purchases were partially driven by a Windows refresh rhythm past year, portion galore tiny and medium-sized businesses and immoderate nationalist assemblage organizations are present opening to regenerate older devices, Shenoy told TechCrunch.

HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, and Asus were among the apical PC vendors successful India past year, IDC said. However, Apple’s Mac computers clasp a smaller stock of India’s PC marketplace than successful the U.S. MacBooks accounted for astir 5.6% of India’s notebook marketplace successful 2025, compared with astir 11–12% globally and astir 20% successful the U.S., according to IDC.

Image Credits:IDC

MacBooks’ stock of India’s notebook marketplace peaked astatine 7.4% successful 2022, up from 3.9% successful 2020, IDC information shows.

About 85–87% of Mac shipments successful India travel from the user segment, Shenoy said, reflecting Apple’s constricted beingness successful endeavor purchases. The premium notebook conception — devices priced supra $1,000 — grew 8.2% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth successful 2025, indicating dependable request for higher-end devices.

Demand for Macs successful India could spot an uptick arsenic Apple this week introduced its lower-priced MacBook Neo, portion Windows notebooks are becoming much expensive, Shenoy said. The Cupertino institution is besides focusing connected expanding its beingness successful the commercialized segment, which could assistance it summation marketplace share, helium added.

Apple did not respond to a petition for comment.

Artificial quality features are besides opening to look successful premium laptops, though they are not yet a large operator of PC request successful India, Shenoy said. Many enterprises that antecedently bought premium notebooks are present opting for AI-enabled PCs arsenic they travel wrong the aforesaid fund range, portion request from contented creators could besides enactment adoption arsenic integer media depletion rises, helium added.

Despite the beardown show past year, the marketplace could look headwinds successful the adjacent word arsenic rising prices and constituent shortages measurement connected demand, Shenoy besides noted. PC shipments successful India could diminution astir 5% successful 2026, compared with a debased double-digit driblet expected globally, helium said.

India is inactive expected to execute amended than galore different markets due to the fact that of its comparatively debased PC penetration and the standard of demand, Shenoy told TechCrunch. PC penetration successful the state is estimated astatine astir 17–20%, leaving important country for maturation arsenic integer adoption spreads crossed households and businesses.

The marketplace could stay nether unit into 2027 earlier returning to maturation arsenic request from businesses and consumers stabilizes, Shenoy said.