BANGALORE: India's computer hardware market, which includes servers and desktops, is set to regain double digit growth rates from next year, as customers seek to establish new data centres and invest more in expanding their operations.

Top hardware vendors such as IBM, HP and Acer have already started seeing a revival in their sales, and experts forecast the hardware market to rebound by next year.

“Enterprises from the sectors of BFSI, automotive, retail and pharma are in forefront of making increased hardware investments primarily to remain globally competitive as well as to get better agility at the marketplace,” said Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner.

“We expect these companies to increase their spend in 2010,” he added. With new phone firms such as Unitech Wireless and MTS launching their operations, demand for computer servers and other infrastructure is indeed looking up.

According to research firm IDC, the overall PC market unit shipments in the second quarter of 2009 touched 1.7 million units recording a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth of 5.2 per cent indicating the market is indeed headed towards a recovery.

“The India PC market performance in Q2 CY2009 has shown, what may be termed as early signs of a revival, as the decline in overall PC shipments year-on-year reduced from a high of 22.7 per cent (Q4 CY2008 vs Q4 CY2007) to 15.3 per cent in the current quarter (Q2 CY09 vs Q2 CY08),” Kapil Dev Singh, country manager, IDC India said recently.

Individual consumers and educational institutions are driving the recovery, Mr Singh added. Rival research firm Gartner has also projected that PC market in India will grow at 18.6 per cent in 2010, much higher than around 1.5 per cent growth this year.

Indeed, vendors such as IBM and HP are beginning to see their sales rise. “I do expect the India systems (hardware) market to be robust, Indian institutions are stronger than ever and companies continue to invest in both domestic and abroad,” said, Elly Keinan, general manager, system and technology group, IBM Growth markets.

The computer server market, which declined by almost 38% during second quarter of this year, looks to achieve positive growth from January next year.

“The Indian PC market has rebounded post the slump in the early part of this year. We are extremely bullish about the market going into next year and expect the Indian market to show a double digit growth in 2010. In the overall PC (notebooks and desktops) market, HP retains the top spot with a market share of 17.8 per cent, followed by HCL and Dell.