India’s PC market breaks quarterly record in Q3 2025, powered by AI and festive buying

India’s PC market just delivered its strongest quarter ever. Shipments reached 4.9 million units in Q3 2025, climbing 10.1% over the same period last year and surpassing the previous record of 4.5 million units set in Q3 2024.

Fresh data from IDC shows that the surge was driven by the rising demand for AI-focused devices and an early, high-energy festive season that pulled in shoppers across both online and offline channels.

Strong Growth Across All PC Categories in Q3 2025

Across every category of traditional PCs, growth remained steady and broad-based. Notebooks, which continue to dominate India’s market, rose 9.5% as consumers and enterprises sought reliable, mid-range machines. Meanwhile, desktops posted an even stronger 11.6% climb, helped by ongoing refresh cycles in offices and government departments. Workstations led the pack with 14.2% growth, reflecting a steady push toward higher-performance systems used in design, engineering, and media production.

As this momentum built, the premium notebook category, defined by devices priced above 1,000, also strengthened. It rose 8.5% as buyers continued to invest in faster processors and better displays for both work and entertainment. The real spark, however, came from AI-enabled notebooks.

Shipments in this category surged 126.5% year over year. Basic AI models, which use hardware-based intelligence features, made up almost 86% of this volume and benefited from generous discounts and cashback offers.

At the same time, next-generation AI notebooks crossed the 100,000-unit mark in a single quarter for the first time, showing how quickly India is warming up to AI-ready personal computing.

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Commercial Segment Fuels Growth as Consumer Demand Skyrockets

As these product trends took shape, both commercial and consumer segments added fuel to the market’s rise. The commercial side grew 11.4%, supported by enterprise refresh cycles and strong demand from small and medium businesses. Larger enterprises expanded 18.8% while SMBs climbed 13.1%, signaling consistent investment across company sizes.

On the consumer side, the quarter looked even stronger. Vendors front-loaded shipments ahead of an early festive season, creating a wave of supply that met a wave of demand. Consumer shipments reached 2.8 million units, the highest quarterly total this segment has ever recorded. Much of this spike came from online sales events, as the e-tail channel achieved its best quarter yet with almost one million units shipped.

According to IDC’s Bharath Shenoy, shoppers postponed many purchases after the back-to-school period, waiting instead for the deep discounts offered during festival sales. That shift prompted vendors to limit Q2 shipments and then ramp up inventory ahead of the three major online sale events that stretched from late September to early November. To keep pace with the online frenzy, several brands also adjusted offline pricing, creating a more uniform buying experience across channels.

Top 5 Company Highlights

As this demand played out, the market’s top five vendors saw mixed fortunes.

HP held its lead with a 26.6% share and remained number one in both consumer and commercial segments. Its dominance in the commercial space, where it held a 34.6% share, came from strong enterprise and SMB buying. Yet its consumer performance slipped 10.4% as competition intensified at both the premium and entry-level ends. The company’s transition from its Pavilion range to the new OmniBook line also needs more time to mature in the market.

Moving down the rankings, Lenovo secured the second position with an 18% share. Its consumer business climbed 14.3%, thanks to sharp offers and cashback deals during festive e-tail sales. The commercial side grew 14.5% as the company gained serious traction in the small office segment, where it recorded an impressive 46.9% growth.

Further along, Acer captured third place with a 15% share. Its consumer performance was driven by a strong online push, especially for entry-level notebooks. Commercial shipments rose 4.1% as Acer led the desktop category with a 33.1% share, supported by government and enterprise demand.

Meanwhile, Dell held fourth place with a 14.6% share. After a few uneven quarters, Dell strengthened its consumer performance and reached a 10.3% share with the help of healthier inventory levels and stronger channel activity. Commercial shipments also rose 6.9% as enterprise demand remained steady.

Rounding out the top five, Asus secured a 10.2% share. It delivered a balanced performance across online and offline channels and ranked second in the consumer segment with a 15.9% share, trailing only HP. The company also recorded its best commercial quarter ever, shipping more than 64,000 units on the back of strong SMB demand.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, analysts expect the momentum to continue. Windows refresh orders remain strong, and AI demand and several pending deployments are likely to support growth in the coming quarters. At the same time, aggressive channel stocking could trigger inventory corrections in the SMB segment, and tight processor supply may cause minor shipment delays. On the consumer front, high inventory levels may create short-term adjustments, but demand for notebooks remains resilient and is expected to hold steady through the first half of 2026.