Bangalore: Strong growth in small and medium business (SMB) and consumer notebook segments helped US-based computer maker Dell Inc. to almost double its market share in India for the quarter to March from a year earlier. The company raised its share to 7.6% from 4.2%, said Sameer Garde, country general manager at Dell India Pvt. Ltd, quoting estimates of research firm IDC.

Dell’s personal computer (PC) shipments almost doubled in unit terms for the March quarter, about 10 times the industry average. The company added retail channels to reinforce its direct sales strategy, under which consumers buy products online that Dell ships directly to them. Dell’s India revenues for the year to January were Rs3,500 crore, a growth of two-and-a-half times since 2005-06, when it earned Rs1,000 crore.

Strong demand from the government, education, banking, SMB and consumer segments is expected to power Dell’s sales growth in India. “We see a major gowth potential in these sectors,” said Garde, who recently took over as the head of operations in India. PC shipments in India rose to 2.1 million in the quarter to March, from 1.9 million in the corresponding quarter a year ago, according to IDC. Total PC shipments in fiscal 2008 jumped 22% to 8.25 million from 6.75 million in one year.

Dell has formed a partnership with Tata Croma, the large-format retail chain of the Tata group. “We are very well poised to take advantage of the retail expansion in India and are looking at several other formats to expand our presence,” Garde said. Business from such partners accounts for a fifth of Dell’s revenues worldwide. Dell ranks fourth after Hewlett-Packard India Sales Pvt. Ltd, HCL Infosystems Ltd and Lenovo India in terms of unit shipments.