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Rajesh Lodha
President,
Southern Assam Computer Traders
How big is the Silchar IT market?
Silchar is one of the smallest cities in Assam. We have 40 active resellers who sell around 150 PCs in a month. While the city had been witnessing a growth of 25 percent till 2007, since the last two years we have witnessed a drop of 10 percent. The slowdown has also fueled a drop in growth as we have seen a significant fall in the demand from consumers.
What are the drivers for IT growth?
Home is the major IT driver in the city, contributing around 70 percent of the entire revenues. Education segment contributes 30 percent of the revenues as the city houses more than 20 schools and several renowned institutes wherein students create the demand.
What are the buying trends?
Silchar is an extremely price sensitive market wherein consumers prefer to buy desktops to notebooks. While desktops are bought by home users, notebooks are bought by students and educational institutions. Due to the price positioning of netbooks, its sales is slowly catching up. Assembled desktops are preferred more than branded desktops and the ratio of assembled desktops to branded desktops is around 80:20.
What are the key challenges faced by resellers?
Post-sales support is one of the major concerns. Only a few vendors have their service centers in the city. They often take over a month to replace the defective products. Increase in competition is also another major concern. In the past couple of years, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of resellers. This has led to an increase in competition and also a fall in the profit margins.
What are the activities organized by your association?
The Southern Assam Computer Traders Association was formed three months ago. Currently, the association has 28 registered members and plans to address the problem of post-sales support with vendors. It also intends to hold training sessions and conduct an IT fair in the city in 2010. |