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Ramkumar Subramanian
VP, Sales & Marketing
AMD India
The buzzwords of 2008 were ultra-thin, touch screen, multi-functionality, convergence, green IT, efficiency and cost-cutting.
The year started with the launch of ultra-thin and light-weight laptops focused on mobility. The industry saw the launch of green technology initiatives in an effort to provide more energy-efficient solutions. 2008 also saw focus on openness and fair competition, where applications and solutions with open access, open education, open source and open standards gained momentum. With convergence being a key factor, the concepts of touch screen and compactness were extended to home PCs. Additionally, there were launches of hybrid gaming machines, cloud computing and quad-core processors.
In the current economic environment, we expect Indian buyers to be even more cautious than usual. This phase may last till the general elections, and a little beyond, We recommend that partners play their role in making sure that customers have access to all options so that they can make decisions which are right for them.
Efficiency and cost-cutting are now top priorities, and technologies can help. They can provide companies with a competitive advantage in what is expected to be a tough year on the bottom-line. Even in an economic downturn, those companies that invest in, develop and capitalize on technologies which save money while improving efficiency and effectiveness have an opportunity to grab significant market- and mind-share from new and existing customers.
Earlier, green IT was being advocated because it was environment-friendly, but now retailers have started propagating the cost-savings side of it. Green IT is now something that makes business sense, therefore manufacturers are moving toward more energy-efficient components.
The big realization in 2009 will be in the areas of virtualization and storage. With economies of scale moving from desktop components to notebook-based components, it will be cheaper for system makers to build desktops with notebook-class components.
We are encouraging partners to adopt the rotational stocking method whereby they stock for a few days rather than a longer period. We have also begun using the Connect Channel outreach program to connect with our partners to help them stay financially stable. Our effort has been to ensure that partners are able to generate more business than they used to earlier. The strategy is to transform their businesses into higher value-added services to make them VARs than just making them transaction-led players.
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