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Raj Rajnish
President,
Jamshedpur IT Association
How big is the Jamshedpur IT market?
Currently, the city has around 150 resellers who sell 800 PCs a month. Earlier, Jamshedpur had witnessed substantial growth, but over the last six months, due to the slowdown, the buying sentiment of consumers has hit an all time low. This has led to negative growth of 20 percent.
What are the drivers for IT growth?
Jamshedpur is home to the Tata empire, with companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Cummings apart from companies like ACC, Hindustan Beverages, MICO and Usha Martin. For this reason, till last year, the corporate segment contributed 50 percent of the entire revenue. But after the slowdown began we noticed a shift in the demand with the home segment contributing more than 50 percent of the revenue, while the corporate segment took the back seat with only 30 percent. The remaining 20 percent came from the SMB and SOHO segments.
Which are the buying trends?
The home segment usually demands for PCs and their accessories, lifestyle products like home theater systems and LCDs . Netbooks is another category that is catching up because many consumers are opting for this small-form-factor and low-cost model. The corporate segment usually seeks desktops, routers and servers.
Which are the key challenges faced by resellers?
Lack of manpower, issues with financing, and defaults. Many well-qualified and trained youth are leaving the city due to few job opportunities and low salaries here. We have also noticed an increase in the number of defaults to the tune of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. This has led distributors like Tech Pacific and Iris to stop their billings with these dealers. That in turn has led to a financial crisis because financial institutions have also stopped lending.
What are the different activities organized by your association?
The Jamshedpur IT Association is a 11-year-old organization with 82 members. It regularly organizes seminars, meetings, debates and get-togethers for its partners. Every year the association also organizes an IT fair called IT Manthan. |