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K S Bakshi,
Member,
Association of Computer Entrepreneurs
How big is the Ludhiana IT market?
Ludhiana has 400 active resellers who sell nearly 5,000 PCs monthly.
The slowdown has had a negative impact on the growth of Ludhiana market. Not only have we seen a fall in sales but we have also seen a drop in the overall growth rate of the market. The Ludhiana IT market used to previously grow by 30 percent year-on-year, but due to the slowdown, we witnessed a growth of merely 15 percent.
What are the drivers for IT growth?
The home segment is the main IT demand driver which generates around 50 percent of the total IT sales. This is followed by the education segment, corporate segment and SMBs. Education and corporate segments, each generate 20 percent of the demand while the remaining 10 percent comes from the SMB and SOHO segments.
What are the buying trends?
Home users usually demand products like PCs and lifestyle products like mp3 players and digital cameras. For the past two years, the scale has tilted in favor of notebooks; they contribute over 60 percent to the total PC sales. For the last two months, we have also witnessed a demand for netbooks and we sell around 2 units monthly. Assembled computers are still preferred by home users. The ratio for assembled computers to branded computers is 60:40. The corporate segment demands networking products like routers, high-speed cabling and servers, and PCs.
What are the key challenges faced by resellers?
Nearly all the vendors have their service centers in the city; but they face a severe shortage of man power. These centers generally have a work force of just 1-2 personnel; this results in a delay of around 2 weeks in post-sales support. The vendors need to tackle this issue.
What are the activities organized by your association?
Currently, the city has its own association called the Association of Computer Entrepreneurs. Formed in 1995, the association has 111 members. The association aims to take the Punjab IT industry to new heights. We often organize programs to address vendor-related issues. |