New Delhi, May 13 (IANS): Riding on remote work and learning as the pandemic continues in India, the traditional PC market (inclusive of desktops, notebooks and workstations) continued its growth streak with shipments growing 73.1 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to reach 3.1 million units in the first quarter this year, an IDC report showed on Thursday.

The Q1 recorded the highest ever first-quarter shipments to India.

Notebooks again remained the driving category with more than three-fourths share of the PC category, registering a 116.7 per cent YoY growth.

Additionally, the desktop category remained steady and showed initial signs of recovery.

Many companies remained fully remote or had adopted a hybrid working model to manage the growing concerns of the pandemic within the country.

"As cases continued to rise, a few large enterprises procured PCs in bulk to manage their workforces, adopting these new working models for the long haul," said Bharath Shenoy, market analyst, PC Devices, IDC India.

HP returned to the top position, replacing Dell in the overall PC market as its shipments grew 102.1 per cent (YoY) in 1Q21. The vendor also led both consumer and commercial segments with shares of 33 per cent and 32.8 per cent, respectively.

Dell Technologies moved to second position with a 21.8 per cent share with 45.4 per cent YoY growth in first quarter.

Lenovo maintained the third position and recorded 73.4 per cent YoY growth in 1Q21.

"PC vendors are staring at uncertainty for the next few months, with new lockdowns impacting consumer sales, delaying government projects, and limiting supplies into the country. Additionally, the current COVID situation has also impacted the field teams," said Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.

PCs were in high demand as enterprises, SMBs, and consumers continued their purchases.

"Supply has been inconsistent over the past few quarters, and demand continued to outstrip the supply allocation for the country," the report showed.