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K S Babu
CEO, Sri Ramadooth Computer Systems,
Bellary
How big is the Bellary IT market?
Bellary is one of the smallest cities in Karnataka. We have only 10 active resellers in the city selling 50 PCs a month. Usually, the city witnesses growth of 20 percent annually. However, due to the slowdown, we haven’t witnessed any growth in the last few months.
What are the drivers for IT growth?
The home and corporate segments are the main IT drivers. While the home segment contributes 50 percent of the revenues, the corporate segment contributes 30 percent. The presence of many steel companies such as Sathavahana Ispat, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel and Kalyani Steel leads to demand from the corporate segment. These companies also bring in employees who help to boost the demand coming from the home segment. The education and government segments contribute the remaining 20 percent of the revenues.
What are the buying trends?
While notebooks rule the demand from the consumer segment, the corporate, education and government segments usually ask for desktops. Currently, the sales ratio of notebooks to desktops in the city is 70:30. We also see demand from the consumer segment for products such as speaker systems, MP3 players and LCD TVs. Sometimes, there is also demand for servers from the corporate segment.
What are the key challenges faced by resellers?
One of the major issues is manpower. Trained people usually join an organization to gain experience, then migrate to metros like Bengaluru and Mumbai in search of better jobs. Service is also a major issue in the city; all the major service centers are present only in Bengaluru. We have to personally take the products from the consumers and send them to the city; this proves to be quite expensive and time-consuming for us.
What are the activities organized by your association?
Bellary does not have an IT association of its own. However, whenever we face any problem, five to six resellers get together and try to find a solution to the problem by raising the issue with the vendor(s). We are also planning to start an association by the end of this year. |