28m urban homes in India have a computer: Intel-IMRB study

According to the study by Intel and IMRB, PC penetration in urban India has doubled in the last three years from 19 per cent to 38 per cent, which means that nearly 28 million households in urban India have a computer.

"This is an exciting time for the Indian PC market. Computers help people to take full advantage of today's technological advances and prepare for tomorrow's challenges," Intel South Asia Managing Director (Sales and Marketing) R Sivakumar said.

The study, titled 'India Urban Consumer Segment Nationwide Study 2009-2010' surveyed 19,178 respondents across 82 cities.

The value and usability of a PC continues to drive PC adoption, it said. While education, research, reading and being able to bring work home remain important factors that drive PC usage, usage of PCs for gaming, watching DVDs and listening to music are also becoming increasingly important.

"We can now say with certainty that the PC market is on the upswing and that the PC is no longer restricted to a select segment of consumers, but has acquired a mass appeal across SECs and city tiers," Prakash Bagri, the Director of Marketing for Intel South Asia, said.

The study also noted that youth in the age group of 18-25 are able to play a significant role as facilitators during the actual purchase of the PC.

Also, more first-time buyers are buying notebooks as their first computer. In 2006, only a mere 17 per cent of first-time buyers wanted to go for notebooks, while in 2009, the percentage of non-owners who wanted a notebook instead of a desktop PC doubled to 31 per cent.

In contrast, in 2006, 41 per cent of people who did not own a computer wanted a desktop. This increased to 44 per cent in 2009, the study said.