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Gitesh Tibrewal
President,
IT Dealers Association of Siliguri
How big is the Siliguri IT market?
The Siliguri IT market comprises 55 active resellers who sell around 1200 PCs per month. Over the last two years, the Siliguri market witnessed a growth of around 30 percent. However, during the last few months, the market has witnessed a slowdown. Customers are adopting the wait- and-watch attitude whereby they are waiting for the situation to improve.
What are the drivers of IT growth?
The SMB segment dominates the market by generating about 50 percent of the demand, the remaining comes from the tea industry and tourism industry that contributes 20 percent each while the home segment contributes 10 percent. Since, we are close to hill stations like Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok, most of the demand for IT products comes from such cities.
What are the buying trends?
For the past one year, we are witnessing an increase in demand for networking products from the SMB and home segment. Notebooks have become more popular than desktops. With increase in tourism, we have also seen an increase in the number of cybercafés and hotels in the city. This has resulted in an increase in the demand for networking products. Lifestyle products like home theater systems and MP3 players also generate considerable demand.
What are the key challenges facing resellers?
Businesses are severely affected by strikes called by political parties and environmental hazards like landslides and heavy rains. Due to the constant shutdowns in the last four months, we have seen a drop of almost 20 percent in our revenues.
What are the activities organized by your association?
Formed in 2006, the IT Dealers Association of Siliguri has 60 members. We regularly organize seminars, debates and an annual four-day IT fair. We try to address issues faced by partners. For instance, after Microsoft raided and penalized six partners for selling pirated software last year, we associated ourselves with Microsoft and regularly conducted anti-piracy drives and awareness campaigns. |