"To be an IT powerhouse, we need 50 million PCs quickly"

On

the significance of the five-millionth PC landmark for India

A five million installed base is quite insignificant compared to our

population. New York alone has eight million PCs. But then, just about two years

back we used to say that two out of every 1,000 people have a PC. Now, at least

we can say five out of every 1,000 people have a PC. But if we have to be an IT

powerhouse, we should reach from 5 to 50 quickly; preferably for which, we first

have to bring down the PC price to less than Rs 10,000.

On the role of the PC in the software market

I would say that because it is just about five million PCs, the role of the

PC has not been very significant in software export or software domestic market.

Only in the last two years, the SOHO market has been getting the visibility it

deserves. But as far as software exports is concerned, that would have gone

ahead whether we reached five million PCs or not. On the other hand, because we

have just so few PCs, we have not been able to make software products or

packages. However, we have made significant inroads into IT services, which is

not so PC-related.

On manufacturing in India

If a PC manufacturer or assembler wants to make good inroads into

profitability, then solutions have to be added to the PC. Today, if you have to

be a successful PC seller or a PC manufacturer, you can make money by providing

hardware, connectivity and offering solutions. The only problem is that many PC

vendors have been trying to make money on the differentiation in import duty,

which is short-term and short vision-oriented. Ultimately, all the duties on IT

products would come to zero on March 31, 2003 if not earlier.

Impact on personal life

I saw a PC when I was almost 21 years old but then I got hooked to it. Today,

like the American Express card, I don’t travel without the laptop.