Gaming PCs reaching new horizon

We understand gaming as playing electronic games conducted through multiple means, such as using computers, mobile phones, consoles, or other mediums.

India has witnessed a significant growth in the gaming industry especially post pandemic. There are around 420 million dynamic gamers and 500 million digitally active audience. India is home to the largest youth population in the world and with the roll out of 5G, India is expected to be one of the leading markets in the gaming industry.

A recent report by Sequoia India and BCG mentioned that India's gaming industry is generating $1.5 billion in revenue and is expected to triple to over $5 billion by 2025. The fast-growing India gaming market is further triggered by mobile-first games. According to a research report, the gaming sector as a whole has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 38% in 2019-2020 and 37% in the previous fiscal year.

During the period of 2023-2028, the Indian gaming market is expected to register a CAGR of 22.65%. It is predicted that India will position itself among the top gaming industry markets driven by a massive youth population, the rising use of smartphones triggering the IT infrastructure and high-speed internet pushing the market towards growth. The online gaming market in the country is driven by factors like adoption of 5G, Cloud gaming and Portable Gaming devices.   

Present Gaming PC market
The pandemic has pushed the gaming market in India and it is registering a strong growth. In the Asis-10 region, India has the largest gamer base and it is the second largest in the world after China, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com. 

While talking about the India gaming industry, Dinesh Nair, Director - Consumer Business, Lenovo India says, “The Indian market for gaming PCs and monitors has witnessed a remarkable surge in recent years, especially post-pandemic. With the growing interest of gamers in India, the industry has emerged as a promising market in the country. As per a ResearchAndMarkets report, the Indian gaming market is set to reach $4.01 billion by 2026. This presents a golden opportunity for Lenovo - a company that has always taken the gaming community's feedback into account and designed its devices accordingly.”

Similarly, Pujan Chadha, Director - Product Marketing, India Consumer, Dell Technologies, India utters, “To begin with, the Indian gaming market is one that is constantly evolving through innovation, investment, and overall efforts. The industry is thriving, with an expanding pool of gamers who want to consider gaming as a serious career option rather than just for leisure or entertainment. What we're also seeing is that the industry is growing holistically. To make gaming more fun and realistic, thousands of software engineers, content creators, data analysts, game designers, social media specialists, venue operators, accountants, lawyers, and others are needed. This has increased the role of technology in gaming devices, and as a result, there is an influx of devices in the market every year that offer incredible power and performance. According to a TMR study, the global gaming hardware market is projected to exhibit growth at 6.6% CAGR by 2026 and the Indian market likewise is expected to grow at over 10% CAGR during 2021-26. Combine this with a flourishing esports scene and a variety of platforms for showcasing talent, and you have a huge opportunity for the Indian gaming market to grow exponentially.”

Gaming has strengthened its foothold as a mode of entertainment and due to that Asus has observed a major traction in mid- and high-end gaming PCs.

Speaking on the same, Vinay Shetty, Regional Director, Component Business, ASUS (India & South Asia) says, “The gaming industry has grown year-over-year, but it entered its high-growth phase during and after the pandemic. Gaming is now seen as one of the many entertainment options and that has helped us fuel our growth of gaming-related components. There’s a considerable demand for mid- and high-end gaming PCs and ASUS thrives in the segment with high-quality offerings ranging from motherboards to graphics cards and even peripherals.

As for gaming monitors, there’s immense potential as customers now understand the pros and cons of having a gaming monitor compared to a regular monitor. Not only it delivers a better gaming experience, but it can also elevate their gaming performance with various gaming modes. We have got monitors with a very high refresh rate for FPS gamers, and portable monitors for gamers on the move and will launch our OLED models later this year.”

As per HP India gamers prefer gaming PCs for better processors, design, graphics, display etc. The company has a wide portfolio and offers a great ecosystem experience.     

Elaborating on the same Vineet Gehani, Senior Director, Consumer Sales, HP India Market says, “The past few years have seen an acceleration of gaming across the world, especially in India. Consumers have now started embracing gaming in more ways than just entertainment-Gaming has not only filled the void between escapism and boredom but has taken over a larger social context. India is all set to emerge as the top 3 PC gaming countries in the world.

According to the HP India Gaming Landscape Study 2022, PC remains the preferred device for gaming with 68% of gamers voting for the same as it offers better processors, design, and graphics with immersive displays. HP has continued to sustain its leadership in the gaming segment. And, while we do have a strong share right now, we believe with our roadmap and robust plans of giving the widest choices to customers and providing a great ecosystem experience, we can continue to lead the market as we go forward.”

With a growing gamer base they have realised the benefits of gaming PCs that provide them with larger screens, better resolution, low latency etc. Highlighting the same, Vishal Dhupar - Managing Director, Asia-South, NVIDIA says, “According to a report by NASSCOM, with 420 million active online gamers, about 500 million digital young demographics, and the rollout of 5G services, young gamers and creators get the rich, immersive and a transformed experience. With a young demographic, India has a growing gaming community and with widespread, affordable bandwidth, the industry has spurred further.

PCs provide gamers with larger screens, better resolution, great audio & low latency, leading to a more intuitive & enhanced gameplay experience with a mouse and keyboard. For example, the famous WASD key combination for first person shooter titles.”

Gaming market - An opportunity & utilizing it
India has emerged as a roughly 1 million + Gaming notebook market, witnessing a growth of over 2000% in the last 5 years. Moreover, the Indian gaming market is expected to grow from $2.8 billion in 2022 to $5 billion in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 28-30%.

“At HP, we understand that gaming is no longer specific to a certain segment of the audience. No matter what type of gamer – professional, enthusiast, mainstream - HP has the gaming solution for everyone. We engineered a new gaming ecosystem with OMEN and Victus laptops and desktops range that not only caters to diverse types of gamers but also lets them get more immersed, involved, and improve their level of play.

With HyperX, we have also developed industry-leading gaming accessories to provide an ecosystem of products that complement our devices, providing an unmatched gaming experience.

While PC gaming is growing fast, we evolved a clear vision of creating best-in-class destination stores where people can visit and experience PC gaming.  This idea to introduce an elevated gaming experience was the genesis of Omen Playground Stores.

Omen Playground is a place where mobile or first-time gamers can experience the power of PC gaming and skilled gamers can immerse themselves in the superior technology of HP devices and the Hyper X gaming ecosystem.  We have launched 13 such Omen Playground stores with some of our leading channel partners in select cities in the last few months, and will create many more such stores in the near future covering the entire country,” comments Vineet Gehani.

It is expected that the Indian gaming PC market will continue to move upward driven by the increasing popularity of gaming and continued expansion of the IT industry. There are many who are taking up gaming as a profession. Regular professional leagues, tournaments and competitions are also being organized. Gaming PCs and components companies are utilizing this as an opportunity.

“At NVIDIA, we ensure wide and easily accessible availability of our latest GPUs, in several form factors, through partners such as PC OEMs, online retailers, physical retailers, etc. We work with gaming café owners to create a truly engaging, immersive and social gaming experience. The vibrant and rapidly growing social community allows peer-to-peer engagement, as well as discussions directly with NVIDIA.

India is gaming and while gaming is fun, there are various creators and influencers who are taking the professional route. There are many professional tournaments, leagues and competitions are being held regularly across India and we engage with influencers and communities to encourage them to seize this growing professional opportunity,” says Vishal Dhupar.

Reiterating the same, Vinay Shetty states, “The Indian gaming PC market is growing rapidly, thanks to the budding popularity of esports and game streaming and with that in mind, we have a slew of products lined up for 2023. For FPS esports players specifically, we have our AimPoint line of products that will enable them to train themselves and better their craft. Esports players and content creators also need a stable and secure connection and this is where our line of gaming routers can help them. Finally, we also support gaming cafes across the country with our hardware that makes newer gamers experience our products.”

While explaining the segments of the Indian gaming industry, Pujan Chadha says, “The Indian gaming market is defined by the variety of gamer profiles available. On one end of the spectrum, you have hardcore gamers who are well aware of what they require from their hardware, and on the other, you have entry-level gamers who are transitioning from mobile to PC gaming. Both these users have their own set of expectations, which are constantly changing. Furthermore, today's gamers are vibrant, outgoing, successful, and proud to identify as players. They can be of any age or gender, and this trend is expected to continue.

Everything we do at Dell Technologies is guided by our mission of using technology to drive human progress. We are dedicated to meeting the needs of every type of user. Our Alienware series is designed for power-hungry gamers who refuse to sacrifice performance. So far, we've released three devices in this line-up for 2023: the Alienware Aurora R15 desktop, the m18, and the x16 R1. While the desktop is intended primarily for game designers and creators, the other two gaming laptops are designed to provide premium experiences with the best display, design, and thermals. All these devices are powered by 13th Gen Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs. We also have the G-series, which is aimed at gamers who are just starting out and looking for affordable PCs. The G-series portfolio for 2023 will be available in India soon.”

In this growing and competitive gaming market, Lenovo provides a complete gaming experience and also offers tailored options for PCs.

Elaborating on the same, Dinesh Nair highlights, “Ever since Lenovo entered the gaming space around six years ago, we have been expanding our gaming PC portfolio. We provide the entire stack of PCs, accessories, and monitors for a complete gaming experience, starting from our marquee Lenovo Legion series to the entry-level IdeaPad Gaming series of laptops. We are also the only brand in India to provide a ‘custom to order’ option for gaming PCs on Lenovo.com. We are also strongly committed to supporting the gaming ecosystem through investments in esports, gaming conventions, and strategic partnerships with The Esports Club (TEC), Comic Con India and more.”

Gaming PC segment contributing to company’s growth
Lenovo is very optimistic about the future of the gaming industry and its consumer PC gaming share is fairly rising and few metro cities are also contributing significantly to the gaming business.

Dinesh Nair explains, “The consumer PC gaming share is increasing annually, contributing modestly to the overall business growth. India’s top eight metro cities currently contribute 45% to our gaming business, and we foresee a more immersive and interactive gaming experience to take the center stage in the coming years."

Similarly Vishal Dhupar says, “Gaming devices, especially laptops are dual-use devices - used for both work & play. For example, a user could be both a creator/designer and gamer. With the increasing number of gamers and creators, we can foresee a transformative trend of increasing investment in platforms that provides better features for an experience that is richer and more immersive. Adoption of newer technologies may also contribute to the growth of gaming industry.”

According to a study by HP India, two-thirds of serious gamers see a career in gaming in India, owing to good earnings prospects. With India’s youth now adopting gaming for content creation, live streaming and ecosystem development; this provides a tremendous growth opportunity for the PC gaming industry.

Talking about the contribution to the company’s growth, Vineet Gehani says,“HP is the leader in India’s PC market in 2022 with over 30% market share, according to IDC. We have seen record sales of gaming PCs which clearly point to a shift in trends. In some segments, the growth has been more than 50% (y-o-y), which is the highest across all PC categories.”

On this Asus says that gaming components and peripherals constitute a decent chunk of its business. The company expects a similar momentum this year as it plans to launch some innovative products in the coming months.

Speaking about the traction from the urban cities, Vinay Shetty  adds, “It’s a good blend for our components with metro cities having a good demand for mid- and high-end products while B & C-class cities seeing a good response in the entry-level and mid-range segment.”

Overall, it can be concluded that India is walking on the path of growth when it comes to the gaming PC segment. Various factors are coming into play for the rising demand of gaming PCs in the market. People are now taking up gaming seriously as a profession also like other global countries. Now gaming is no more restricted to Tier I cities but are also spreading wings in Tier II & III cities as well. Companies are witnessing the pull from these cities for the entry-level and mid-range segment. So we see a bright horizon awaiting for the gaming PC market.