"The five-million figure makes India an interesting proposition for both Indian and MNC players"

On
the importance of the five-million figure

India now has a significant market for the PCs. Five million is a base number
on which if we start extrapolating the growth, which we can see is over 40% in
the coming years, it becomes realy significant. I think the five-million figure
puts India as a significant market on the global front. Today, we have a few
multinationals and few Indian players. Tomorrow, we will have more MNCs and
Indian players coming into the marketplace, providing the Indian customer with a
lot more options to choose from.

On manufacturing in India

A five-million PC base with a 40—50% growth rate certainly makes PC
manufacturing an interesting proposition for both local and international
players. Also, given the Indian market size and the low cost of manufacturing,
MNCs will look at India to manufacture the PCs to supply into domestic market
and also as a base for exports to some of the markets close to India.

On the PC market in India

I think we have underplayed the importance that the hardware business,
especially the PC business has for India. It is important that we drive the
hardware business. We should get the PC into each and every education institute
and home in the country because it is a foundation on which people learn about
technology; a foundation on which we can build software skills.

On the significant of the PC for India today, given its low penetration

The relevance of the PC can be looked at from two market
perspectives–the PC for the organizations and the PC for individuals. The
impact would increase with the improvement of bandwidth availability.

From an organization’s perspective, even with penetration
levels lower than in the US or Europe, the PC has been a significant contributor
to the IT industry’s growth, and has been an integral part of improving the
overall efficiency and productivity of organizations.

From a consumer perspective, we are seeing the real benefits
only now, with the PCs being used in schools and at homes for education and as
information access devices. This usage will increase with increase in the
Internet subscriber base.

The key challenge for India is to make affordable devices so
that more Indians have access to the information they require. These devices can
be the PC as we know it today, or other cheaper access devices such as set-top
boxes, PDAs or mobile phones that are emerging. A concern area is the adequacy
of relevant software.