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Naveen Kumar Ahuja
Proprietor,
Param Associates
How big is the Roorkee market?
The size of the IT market in Roorkee is considerably small. There are 15 active resellers in the market selling around 300 PCs in a month, wherein the number of desktops and notebooks sold may be equal.
What are the drivers for IT growth?
It is a hub for engineering colleges including one of the IITs, and other educational institutes. The education segment is one of the primary growth drivers in this market. The next important driver is the home segment followed by the corporate segment. The education segment accounts for about 45 percent while the home segment contributes 35 percent and corporate segment contributes 20 percent.
What are the buying trends?
The market is quite price-sensitive wherein the home users have a clear preference for assembled PCs. Presence of educational institutes has tilted the scales in favor of notebooks. There are around 500 colleges in and around the city and a minimum of 10 percent of students buy notebooks.
The market for accessories and other products is minimal. Majority of students are migrants; they prefer to purchase accessories from their hometown.
What are the key challenges faced by resellers?
The major issue that plagues the resellers here is the absence of post-sales support. Only HP and Epson have their service centers here. Samsung has a service center which is like a collection center. The turnaround time taken by vendors other than HP and Epson is around 15 to 20 days. These vendors hardly take any initiatives to impart training nor do they conduct any channel event here.
The present slowdown had added to our set of problems. Inspite of deals taking place, there is backlog of unfulfilled payments. However, the only relief comes in the form of over-the-counter sales wherein the payments are regular.
What are the activities organized by your association?
Till date, we never had an association. However, this Holi we all felt the need for an association to tackle issues faced by resellers. We will soon be meeting to take this idea forward. |