IDC, a technology market research firm, has traced the growth of the Indian PC market as 30 percent to cross the 4.6 million units mark in 2005-2006.

According to IDC's India Quarterly PC market tracker, the ranking of the companies in terms of unit shipment remains unchanged, with HP taking the lead with a market share of 18 percent, followed by HCL with 14 percent, and Lenovo with 9 percent. Whereas in terms of total desktop PC shipments, HCL tops the list followed by HP and Lenovo; and in terms of total notebook PC shipments, HP again takes the lead.

In 2005-2006, the consumer desktop segment grew by 33 percent, while the commercial desktop segment grew by 15 percent, and the total desktop segment grew by 21 percent. The notebook PC sales have also increased by 168 percent as compared to 2004-05. The consumer PC market showed new-found maturity, which is evident from the wave of Bollywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Soha Ali Khan, endorsing the promotions of desktops and notebooks from HP and Lenovo.

Piyush Pushkal, senior market analyst - PC research, IDC India, said that the superstar endorsements signified new-found maturity in this segment of the market. They helped HP and Lenovo to notch up healthy levels of brand visibility, and also helped in expanding the overall consumer market for PCs.

Pushkal said that for the large corporate segment, it was business-as-usual, but it was the government and medium business segments which contributed significantly to this market performance.

Despite the uncertainty about changes in taxes and duties during the 2006 annual budget, the notebook PC market as a whole also witnessed a massive growth of 177 percent each year.