Computer Industry News: 11/8/09

MOSER BAER GIVEN ONE MONTH TO REPLY IN INCOME-TAX CASE
New Delhi
The Hindu Business Line

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to technology major Moser Baer India Ltd asking for its reply against the tax department’s demand that the company has income-tax liabilities worth Rs 2.97 crore.

A Bench headed by Justice S.H. Kapadia allowed four weeks for Moser Baer to file a counter-affidavit giving reasons why the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Income-Tax Department should not be entertained.

The Department, that demanded Rs 2.97 crore as tax from Moser Baer India Ltd in 2003, had filed the SLP in the matter before the apex court after the Delhi High Court dismissed its appeal in September 2008.

The case also generated some controversy on Monday after some reports that the tax department had demanded Rs 2,978 crore from the company as tax.

Meanwhile, Moser Baer issued a statement clarifying that that Income Tax Department had demanded a tax of only Rs 2.97 crore and claimed that the reports were “completely erroneous and highly damaging for the company’s reputation.”

It added that the tax liability has been “inflated a thousand times.” The Department had alleged that since a sizeable chunk of Moser Baer India’s turnover was made through transfer to its branches situated abroad and subsequent sale to third parties, the company had failed to comply with the requirement of export of more than 75 percent of its turnover. According to the department, if the company had complied with this rule, it would have been eligible for income-tax exemptions.

However, the company challenged the tax department’s order before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). The CIT (Appeals), in August 2003 had ruled in favour of the company. Moser Baer further said the Department’s appeal to Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and a subsequent appeal to Delhi High Court had been turned down in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

 

UK CO BUYS 90 PERCENT STAKE IN DB POWER ELECTRONICS
Kaustubh Kulkarni, Pune
Business Standard

The United Kingdom’s largest UPS supplier, Chloride Group, has entered India through a 90 percent stake purchase in the Pune-based UPS maker, DB Power Electronics Pvt Ltd, at an approximate cost of Rs 253 crore. The deal follows a four-year-old strategic partnership between Chloride Group and DB Power Electronics for sales and servicing of Chloride Group products in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

With this deal, Chloride Group has acquired a majority shareholding in DB Power Electronics and will take over three manufacturing units in Pune and Satara, along with a research and development facility in Pune city. DB Power Electronics had reported revenues worth Rs 270 crore.

Its Satara unit manufactures around 450 UPS units a month, while the number is 150 in the case of DB Power’s Pune plant. The company's second manufacturing unit in Pune deals with customised products and serves approximately 250 customers according to specified requirements.

Computer News: 31/7/09

PRINTER SALES UP 1 PERCENT, UPS SLIP 6 PERCENT IN FY08-09
New Delhi
The Economic Times (Delhi edition)

Printer sales in the country is expected to grow by 8 percent in the ongoing fiscal to cross 1.74 million units sales even as economic slowdown hits the other peripheral business in the country. The total printer sales between April 2008 and March 2009, with dot-matrix, ink-jet and laser-jet printers taken together, were 1.61 million units, up 1 percent from the year ago period, industry body Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) said in a statement. "PC and peripherals consumption in 2008-09 was adversely impacted, especially in the second-half of the fiscal year, by the slowdown in the Indian economy," MAIT said.

HP FOCUSES ON STAR-RATED PRODUCTS
Bhaskar Hazarika, New Delhi
Financial Chronicle

After the consumer durables market witnessed the inflow of star-rated products, global printer maker HP is betting on energy efficient products.

Ivy Liang, vice-president marketing, Imaging and Printing Group, HP, Asia Pacific and Japan, said that as enterprises in Asia Pacific continue to find ways to reduce costs in the present economic climate, the company has launched the star-certified products to meet the new challenge. "In 2008, we shipped around 25 million star-certified printers. There is competition in the imaging and printer industry, but the challenge is to meet the consumer demands with reduction in carbon footprint," Liang said.

Liang said that the company has set some goals to be met by 2011. "We plan to use £100 million cumulatively, of recycled plastic in printing products. We will reduce the average weight of printer packaging per product by 35 percent (relative to 2005) and utilise at least 35 percent recycled paper in cardboard packaging for printers," she said.

According to the Manufacturer's Association for Information Technology (Mait) report, the total printer sales between April 2008 and March 2009 — including dot-matrix, ink-jet and laser-jet printers —were 16.1 lakh units, registering a growth of one percent over the previous year. According to Vinnie Mehta, executive director, Mait, with business sentiment gradually gaining momentum, overall printer consumption in financial year 2009-10 is expected to cross 17.4 lakh units, registering an 8 percent growth.

"Consumer sentiment was subdued due to uncertainty in the economy in 2008-09 which impacted the consumption of IT. While consumption in the first-half of the year was satisfactory, less than expected offtake in sales in the second-half pulled down the overall growth into the negative quadrant," Mehta said. Personal computers and peripherals consumption in 2008-09 was adversely impacted, especially in the second-half of the financial year, by the slowdown in the Indian economy.

CRISIS DENTS PC, PERIPHERALS CONSUMPTION IN FY08-09
Mumbai
The Financial Express

The Manufacturer's Association for Information Technology (MAIT) in its annual review for the IT peripherals industry for the FY 2008-09, reports PC and peripherals consumption in 2008-09 has been affected by the slowdown in the Indian economy, especially in the second half of the fiscal.

The body representing India's IT hardware, training and R&D services sectors, has, however, said that with the economic situation gradually improving, overall printer consumption in FY2009-10 is expected to cross 1.74 million units, registering an 8% growth. However, sales of UPS are expected to remain flat.

According to MAIT's findings, total printer sales between April 2008 and March 2009, were 1.61 million (16.1 lakh) units, registering a growth of 1% over the previous year. According to the study, sales of printers in the top four and the next four cities registered a decline of 9% and 31% respectively in 2008-09.

Though sales of ink-jet printer declined by 4% during the same period, the consumption of dot matrix and laser-jet printer grew 5% and 7% respectively in FY 2008-09 over 2007-08. Smaller towns and cities outside of the top eight metros drove the printer consumption registering a growth of 6% accounting for three-fourths of the overall printer consumption in the country.

Consumption of UPS declined 6% over 2007-08 registering 1.51 million (15.1 lakh) units in sales. The households segment, which experienced a decline of 25%, pulled down the overall UPS sales to negative. Desktop sales in the households had declined 18% in FY2008-09 and consumption of UPS is highly correlated to desktop sales. In case of networking products, consumption of Network Interface Cards grew 3% while that of modems and hubs declined 44% and 35%, respectively.

Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT said, "Consumer sentiment was subdued due to uncertainty in the economy in 2008-09 which impacted the consumption of IT in the country."

DESIGNTECH MAKES FORAY INTO 3D PRINTING
Bangalore
The Hindu

DesignTech, the product life cycle and designs solution provider, has entered the 3D printing and modelling market, estimated at $50 million in India.

DesignTech will enter the field with uPrint, the 3D printer from Statasys of the U.S., which sell the printers in the sub-$15,000 price bracket. In the Indian market, the products would cost much less than comparable printers besides taking up less space, Vice-President-International Sales, Woody Frost, told reporters here on Thursday.

 

Computer Hardware Updates: 30/7/09

ACER UNVEILS ASPIRE REVO
Mumbai
Deccan Herald

Acer, on Wednesday, launched its Acer Aspire Revo in India, which offers advanced graphics capabilities for full enjoyment of multimedia contents in high definition.

Characterised by a refined design and reduced dimensions, Acer Aspire Revo is practical and versatile and is perfectly adapted to any environment, the company said.

It can be attached on the back of any LCD monitor with a VESA attachment to offer the user an all-in-one capability and increase the working or playing area.

 

DESKTOPS: ALL-IN-ONE PCS ARE HERE
Shivani Mody & Sujit John, Bangalore
The Times of India (Mumbai edition)

When you have laptops with everything in one compact, portable box, you can legitimately wonder why desktops remain so klunky, often with at least four different and big parts?monitor, CPU box, keyboard and UPS. And they are all connected together through a mish mash of wires that make a mess on the desktop or on the floor, frequently accumulating dust because it?s so difficult to clean between those wires.

But now, desktop makers appear to have overcome the technological challenges in integrating at least the monitor and CPU box in one compact body, significantly reducing both the space occupied on desks and the clutter of wires. These are being commonly referred to as all-in-one desktops. Often they also integrate accessories like speakers and webcam into the single body. And most see this as the future of desktops. ?It?s the fastest growing segment, though from a small base,?? says Amar Babu, MD of PC maker Lenovo India.

The system is easy to set up, in many cases taking less than four minutes to get going, and saves as much as 79 percent of the desk space. According to a global survey by Dell, 4 out of 5 small business owners see technology as a means to help clean up employees? desktops and improve productivity. The survey finds that space usage by PCs in offices is an issue faced by small businesses in China, India, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US. Technology analyst firm IDC predicts that small form factor, all-in-one and ultra-small form factor desktops will make up nearly 38 percent of the overall desktop market by 2013.

Dell recently launched the Vostro in this segment at $629. Combined with an optional integrated wifi and a wireless mouse and keyboard, the result is a wire-free desk. It also has an optional video conferencing solution with integrated camera to take care of mobility needs.

HP has the TouchSmart IQ500 series targeted mostly at home users at a price of Rs 88,000. It has the touch-screen facility (which is perhaps why it is so expensive) and comes with a built-in webcam and microphone. Other features include 4 gigabyte of memory, a media card reader and a large-capacity, high-speed hard drive. The system requires only one cord to set up and power the system.

Lenovo last month launched an ultra-thin, single unit desktop PC based on Intel?s Atom processor. It comes with a 20?? slim monitor and an in-built TV-tuner at a price of Rs 29,000. Lenovo also has the powerful A600 at a price of about Rs 70,000, which comes with a wireless keyboard, a Wii-type motion sensor gaming facility and a remote that can be used as an air mouse (instead of a wired mouse), a gaming remote, a voice-over-IP (VOIP) phone and to manage the Windows Media Centre (to operate DVDs, movies and TV).

 

ASUS EEE PC 1005HA
Mumbai Mirror

Part of Asus? Seashell series of netbooks, the 1005HA is powered by an Intel Atom N280 processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM, and comes loaded with Windows XP Home. The 1005HA boasts of 10.5 hours of battery life from its 6 cell battery, and features a 10-inch WSVGA display (1024x600 pixels) and a keyboard 92 percent the size of a regular counterpart. Asus also offers 10GB of online storage, in addition to the 160GB SATA II hard disk drive on the netbook. For more information on the 1005HA, priced at Rs. 23,560, visit in.asus.com

Computer Industry News: 16/7/09

LOGITECH FACES TRADEMARK SUIT
Financial Chronicle

Logitech International, the world’s biggest maker of computer mice, was sued for trademark infringement by ClearOne Communications, a maker of videoconferencing software.

SOLAR SEMI SETTING UP SOLAR CELL PLANT AT FAB CITY
Chennai/Hyderabad
Business Standard

Solar Semiconductor, a Hyderabad-based manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) modules, is setting up a solar cell plant at its Fab City campus with an investment of about $100 million (about Rs 490 crore).

According to the company’s vice-president Ravi Surapaneni, the plant will have a capacity of 30 Mw initially and will be ramped up to 60 Mw subsequently. The solar cells manufactured here will be utilised by the company’s PV module-making plant at the Fab City.

At present, Solar Semiconductor has a photovoltaic module-making capacity of 200 Mw a year, including 130 Mw at the Fab City and 70 Mw at Kompally. Both the facilities are dedicated to the export markets in the US, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Solar Semiconductor is expecting the PV modules business to grow at around 30 percent annually. At present, the international price for PV modules is about $3.5 per watt and the global market for PV products is estimated to be $30 billion, Surapaneni said.

Solar Semi is among the few companies that had started operations at the Fab City, originally a semiconductor cluster but now a PV module cluster. The company will later add thin-film technology for making PV cells. It is also setting up a reliability laboratory at its premises at a cost of $2 million (about Rs 9.8 crore) for testing new material to be used in solar cell making, which will be ready in about two months.

The company is also pursuing some international private equity players for raising funds to be used for the operations here, Surapaneni said, while declining to elaborate further.

He said the company was certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), an independent product safety certification organisation, as a high-wattage PV modules manufacturer. UL India sales and marketing director Manish Bhatnagar said the products of Solar Semiconductor have adhered to the prevailing international safety standards. The certification will allow Solar Semiconductor to access wider markets.

XEROX INDIA EYES 30 PERCENT MARKET SHARE IN PPP COPIER
Chennai
Financial Chronicle  The Financial Express  Business Standard  

Document management company, Xerox India is eyeing a 30 percent market share from 11 percent in the PPP (Print Per Minute) copier category this year.

"For us achieving a leadership position is to have 30 percent market share by this year," Xerox India Director (Office Business) Princy Bhatnagar said here.

The company is banking on 'HiQ LED Technology' (High Quality Light Emitting Diode) devices developed by its parent company Fuji Xerox in partnership with Japan-based Nippon Glass, to drive it to the leadership position, he said.

Bhatnagar said the HiQ LED Technology has benefits including high image quality and controlling the colour printing costs.

"Nippon Glass has collaborated with Fuji Xerox in R and D part of the technology, which mainly helps in managing the colour consistently", he said.

He said the LED is less expensive to manufacture.

With 45 percent colour copier penetration in the South Indian market, he said the new technology allows colour printing "the way we want. South Indian market is very matured in this sector."

The price of the devices developed for the Indian market ranges from Rs four lakh for the basic model to Rs six lakh for the top end model, he said.

Commencing from Chennai, the company would launch the devices in 14 cities across the country, he said, adding "it will be followed by promotional campaigns."

RELIANCE DIGITAL PLANS OWN LABEL
Sangeetha G, Chennai
Financial Chronicle

Reliance Digital, the consumer durables arm of Reliance Retail, will launch its private label products within six months.

The store brands will be introduced in a variety of categories, including IT and telecom accessories, small kitchen appliances and consumer electronics, said Ajay Baijal, president and chief executive of Reliance Digital.

“The plan is to introduce private label products within six months, by which time we hope to attain a minimum scale of operation. In 2010, private label products will be available at the stores,” he said.

Private labels work well in categories that have a highly fragmented market and products in which customers look at prices rather than brand value, he added.

However, there are a few challenges in venturing into private labels. “When it comes to providing better prices, quantum of sales should be higher. It is riskier in products that have a higher brand presence and those which are subject to constant price erosion,” Baijal said. But, Baijal also finds opportunity in specific category products for better margins.

The company also finds the 10,000 sq ft to 40,000 sq ft-size stores as most viable among its formats and plans to have 150 such outlets over three years.

The other two formats – Express and iStore — carry more of technology products and cater to a specific group of customers, whereas large-format stores can have around 5,000 store keeping units, including consumer durables, he said.

PEOPLE SHOULD DREAM AND NOT BE AFRAID OF IT
Sulekha Nair
The Financial Express

He lives in the future. Kanwalinder Singh, senior vice-president, Qualcomm Inc, and president, Qualcomm India and South Asia, is actively engaged in research in technology. It is yet to hit the market but when it does, it will make connectivity and communication an everyday affair with the help of simple gadgets.

He is perplexed that most people in India fear the computer and other gadgets. What is so mysterious about technology, he wonders aloud. “Most people in India look at the computer as a complex device. I want to make it simpler.” Seated away from his workspace in his Mumbai office and wearing a jacket without a tie (“I find ties very formal,” he says to the photographer), Singh relates with excitement how his team at Qualcomm is working to make 3G a mainstream service in India, supported by affordable devices and enriched collaboration in the ecosystem. 3G will also trigger the growth of wireless broadband in India.

Yet, technology was not something Singh was introduced to in classrooms or workplaces. His association with it began in rural Nangal, famous for the Bhakra Nangal dam in Punjab in his growing years where his father and the villagers always spoke of doing work “automatically”. The word translated into technology for Singh, which he saw being used to make-work on agriculture easier. “A lot of agriculturists way back then would adopt all kinds of machinery and capital equipment to go in for more automation.”

Singh recalls that very early on he was a detail-oriented person and would do projects on his own. “I remember doing projects with wires lying around. I first used a computer in the ninth grade. Soon I started programming it too. I was comfortable with electronics all along.” It is not surprising then that he went on to pursue graduation in electronics and electrical communication from Punjab engineering college.

When Singh’s doctorate proposal was rejected, it pushed him to work with technology firms and start his career earlier than he had envisaged. “After my masters at Bucknell, I wanted to pursue my doctorate and was all set to have a ‘Dr’ against my name but my proposal on automated software development was not approved.”

However, this proposal got the nod from the team at A&T Bell Laboratories, which had come to Bucknell University for campus recruitment. The rejection at the university was a blessing in disguise because he learnt at A&T how very large telecom networks are engineered, and to manage software. “My happiest moment was when I received a patent on automated software testing.”

After a long stint in the US, Singh got an opportunity to come home. His India foray came courtesy Lucent Technologies but he did not stay long as he felt they were narrowly focussed on network sales. “I came to India in 2002-03 when wireless started taking off.

When Qualcomm came along, I took up the opportunity to work through the ecosystem and also devices besides the network. The journey has been phenomenal,” he says with enthusiasm inflecting his tone. “CDMA technology then had less than 10 million subscribers and we set out to build a team and a business that grew to become extremely large. We did not envision the kind of growth that we have now. ”

Singh believes that it is his style of handpicking people for the job that has helped him to achieve high growth for the company. Extremely ambitious people attract him. “People should dream and not be afraid of it. The goal here was to get a million subscribers, which was huge then. What we told the team was: ‘No goal is big enough. You have to set incredibly large goals.’ That culture has percolated down.” He does not think that it becomes daunting for some people? “The key is to build relationships within the company and outside and also with end users and then one is working in concert with a lot of people. That is how 40 people here worked to get a one-million subscriber base.”

Singh is now looking to introduce gadgets into the marketplace that make working on computers a smarter and easy choice. “Since we were building mobile devices, especially smart phones and high power devices, we invented chipsets that rival the power of those available in computers. In a mobile world, the handsets are designed for very low power consumption. A person must be able to carry it the whole day and the battery should last. We envision the same for computing– always connected through wireless broadband on which you can access the Internet with all its capabilities; All the software for it would come from the Internet and it would run on battery that lasts the whole day long.”

On the cards are two gadgets. The first is a smartbook for the classic computing world, which is the size of a netbook and has the simplicity of a smart phone and is light in weight.

The other is Kayak, a desktop version with a display and a mouse and is always connected to the Internet. It won’t be able to load software because all this will come from the Internet. No CDs would be required and there would be no fear of virus. Both these gadgets will be out in the latter part of this year.

 

Computer Industry News: 14/7/09

LUMINOUS POWER PICKS MAJORITY STAKE IN TRITRONICS
New Delhi
The Economic Times (Delhi edition)

Privately held inverter and battery maker Luminous Power Technologies has acquired a majority stake in its smaller rival, Tritronics (India), for an undisclosed amount. Delhi-based Tritronics manufactures uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, inverters and other power conditioning equipment with a headcount of about 200 people. Our objective is to expand business in the UPS space and the deal with Tritronics will help us in this direction Luminous Power Technologies managing director Rakesh Malhotra said. He declined to share the size of the deal.

According to industry sources, Luminous is looking for expansion through the acquisition route and is eyeing several small firms across the country as well as in Europe and North America. Last year, the company rolled out a manufacturing facility in China to export power products to Asian and African markets.

The Rs 500-crore Luminous manufactures UPS systems, inverters, batteries and renewable energy products for sale in the domestic market as well as exports them to 25 countries. The Delhi-based company also has business interests in consumer appliances, information technology and networking solutions. Earlier this year, Luminous raised Rs 16-20 crore from IFCI Venture Capital Funds. This was the second round of private equity funding that the company received after CLSA Capital Partners invested $20.3 million two years ago.

CHEAPER LAPTOPS FOR BETTER LEARNING
Shimla
The Economic Times

After its successful run in Latin America and some African countries, the US-based non-profit organisation "One laptop per Child" (OLPC) has launched the programme in India to equip students with specially designed laptop at subsidised rate for better learning.

"Over 1,000 laptops have been made available to students in the age group of 5-12 in 20 schools in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu," OLPC President and CEO Satish Jha, who was at Kasauli in Solan district, said.

The scheme would be launched in Himachal Pradesh and other states soon, he said, adding the group aims to distribute three lakh laptops by the end of 2009.

Jha said the laptop has been specially designed to suit Indian conditions. Each set consumes only one watt of power, besides it has screen which is visible in sunlight also.

The laptops are unbreakable and water-proof which will make them easy to handle without any risk, he said.

Jha said course contents and books used in schools can be fitted easily in the laptops in local languages.

The laptop is provided at a rate of Rs 11,000 only, he said, adding the project is funded by leading organisations like Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Red Hat, Google and Bright Star corporation among others.

The project has drawn good response in Latin America and African countries like Libya, Nigeria and Rwanda, besides in parts of Pakistan and Nepal, Jha said.

 

Hardware Updates: 13/7/09

AMARA RAJA BATTERIES FOR TELCOS & UPS SOON
G Balachandar, July 13, 2009
Financial Chronicle

Bullish on the growth of the industrial battery segment, Amara Raja Batteries, battery maker for automotive and industrial sectors, is set to introduce a new range of batteries this financial year for telecom and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) segments, which have been driving the growth for the company in the industrial segment. “The company is in an advanced stage of developing front terminal access (FTA) batteries for the telecom segment and will be marketing the product during 2009-10,” according to Amara Raja’s annual report for 2008-09.

The new battery has been developed for optimum space utilisation, accelerated installation speed and enhanced scalability in powering telecom networks.

The company plans to market the FTA batteries to both domestic and international telecom service providers. Amara Raja is also planning to introduce small valve regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries for commercial and household applications during the present year. The battery maker seeks to increase its market share in the UPS segment by expanding output of medium VRLA batteries and launching a new range of batteries. The company says it continues to be a preferred supplier for leading telecom operators and UPS manufacturers.

Powered by these two segments, the company has registered 55 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in the industrial segment in the past four years. The industrial segment accounted for about 55 percent of the topline (Rs 1,318 crore in 2008-09), while the rest was accounted for by the automotive sector, which was hit by the economic slowdown. Amara Raja expects FTA batteries for telecom, specialised sleeper-coach batteries for the railways and batteries (12V) with high capacity for the UPS segment to be the growth drivers in the industrial segment.

 

AUTOMOTIVE CONTINUES TO BE A MAJOR GROWTH AREA FOR US
Priyanka Akhouri, July 13, 2009
The Financial Express

KUKA Robotics (India) Pvt Ltd is a 100% subsidiary of KUKA Roboter Germany and was incorporated in India in May 2006. In a short span of three years, KUKA has successfully made a strong presence in India as a supplier of industrial robots by bagging customers like Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Reliance and so on. Raj Singh Rathee, MD, KUKA Robotics (India) in an interview he talks about the company’s involvement with the Indian auto sector and its plans for other sectors.

Excerpts:

What will be KUKA’s growth strategy and expansion plans in FY09-10?

We would like to explore the possibility to work with every auto company, which has plans to invest in coming times to automate their lines. Hence, in India, a large part of our business comes from the automotive industry and it will continue to grow. We are also looking at unconventional sectors like medical, entertainment, foundry, food, FMCG and renewable energy for growth in the Indian market. If the market continues to grow at a rapid pace, then definitely we can foresee the possibility of opening similar training institutes in other regions as well. We have an art training centre in Pune where we train people from the industry as well the students from educational institutions on different aspects of robotics. If the market continues to grow rapidly, we can foresee the possibility of opening similar training institutes in other regions.

How has the demand for robots been across other verticals?

The major requirement till now for industrial robots is from the automotive industries and its suppliers. But recently, industries like foundry, food, wood, logistics, solar, medical and aerospace have shown interest in industrial robots for different applications. KUKA has one of the biggest product portfolios to cater to the needs and demands of different industries. KUKA being the technological leader in this segment is preferred by the industry verticals for very precise applications. We would certainly want our Indian customers to be benefited by the use of the latest German technology. As we already have number of good references worldwide including the auto industry, we want the Indian industry to benefit from this technology.

 

CUSTOMERS NOW WANT BEST RETURN FOR EVERY DOLLAR SPENT
Pragati Verma, July 13, 2009
The Financial Express

As customers today are very conscious and look for IT infrastructure that contributes towards data security and lower total cost of ownership, Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) workstations and servers are tuning in. Dennis Mark, who heads the commercial systems unit at HP Personal Systems group (PSG) is banking on products that promise return on investments as early as three months. In an interaction he elaborates on HP’s plans and the environment. Excerpts:

As customers squeeze tech spending, how do you compel them to buy new computer systems?

Yes this environment is tough. In this environment, a customer will ask for the best return for each dollar spent. Having said that, the good news is that we are seeing an economic momentum. In countries like China and Vietnam, there are a lot of opportunities and we are seeing a positive sentiment. The key thing for companies is to invest in technology that will help them to be more productive and more competitive in their respective industries.

Our new workstation series called Z have been designed keeping performance in mind. This is especially true for SMBs, where the work done in five days can be brought down to 2.5 to 2.7 days due to the high performance of the workstations. From their perspective, there is a productivity improvement of almost 85%. For the same amount, architectures using these systems can double their work and this generates a lot of saving and ability to do more projects in the same amount of time. As a result there is huge saving for them.

How different is the product profile today?

Customers are more demanding in this environment. For example, an architect can complete his work using the new Z series workstations in 27 days or 1 month, while otherwise he would take 2-3 months. So in a very short period of time, he can realise the practical benefit of the investment.

Time to realise the return on investments (ROI) have come down by three to four monts time. So the design of the workstation was able to enhance the performance.

We spoke to our customers on how they used our workstations and gathered their feedback. We came together with BMW DesignWorks to design the internal chassis and the internal airflow. This partnership enables us to integrate the handle on the top of the machine so that it may be moved around easily. At the bottom, we added a layer of a material that enables users to shift the machine easily. These minute details come together to enhance the computing experience for the customers and offering better productivity.

Do you expect customers to buy more HP products like after the 1997 crisis?

Our market share has been steadily increasing. Hence during these difficult times too, we continued to invest in meaningful innovations. An economic slowdown doesn’t mean we stop—we continue to invest in the market and technology. In such a tough scenario, we aim to understand our customers’ needs better and fine-tune innovations to suit them. We want to continue to help them in their business to become more competitive. The crucial thing is to be with the customer and retain their loyalty. Like I said, it will be about keeping the relationship going and not merely buy and sell. The strategy is ‘we grow as they grow’.

 

US ORGANIZATION TO DISTRIBUTE 30 LAKH LAPTOPS AT RS 11,000
New Delhi, July 13, 2009
The Statesman

For creating screen-based learning environment in Indian schools, US-based non-profit organization, one laptop per child (OLPC), plans to distribute 30 lakh XO laptops in the country at the rate of Rs 11,000 per laptop by the year-end of 2009.

The organization claims to have already distributed 1000 such laptops in 20 schools in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on experimental basis.

Computer Hardware News: 9/7/09

ESYS PC
The Hindu

Now eSys Information Technologies has rolled out its latest PC – Wizard Utility. Part of its Peoples' series, it is aimed at the first time buyers / users, education segments and so on. This offering comes with a modest configuration touting an Intel Celeron 2.8Ghz processor with 1GB RAM. It also has G31 Motherboard, 160GB SATA HDD and DVDWR as a standard configuration. The system caters to normal computing applications ranging from net surfing, document processing, AV playback, among others and comes with upgradability option. It also features MATX Cabinet with 300 Watts Power Supply. Available through the company's 400 channel partners across the country, its unit ESP price of Rs.9999.

WE WANT TO TOUCH RS 1,000 CRORE IN 2010: BHARADWAJ
Shilpa Pandis
DNA (Bangalore edition)

Canon's product churn rate is 66% which goes to show that it is more focused on R&D investments and spends 10% of its revenues on developing new products every year, Alok Bharadwaj, senior vice president, Canon India.

Excerpts

Is Canon's high product churn rate fuelling its next generation portfolio?

Canon launches 100 products in India every year. Our product replacement rate or 'churn rate' is 66%. This is typical of any technology major. This goes to say that we are more focused on R&D investments and 10% of our revenues are channelised into this effort. We have launched 45 products in the first half of 2009. In the course of next 6 months, we will launch 55 products. We expect to touch revenues of Rs 840 crore in 2009 and Rs 1,000 crore in 2010. We want to grow at 30% for the next 5 years.

Can you give us a snapshot of Canon's position in document management systems (DMS)?

We are looking to tap the DMS segment to automate business processes and provide workflow solutions. Verticals which have been early adopters of DMS in India include BFSI, telecom and logistics verticals. DMS expedite cycles, ensure compliance, and connect people with information and processes in real-time, regardless of location. Many growing e-government initiatives and the need to maintain records, is expected to drive DMS adoption further in India.

The fact that DMS yield tangible benefits is reinforced by the report from IDC which states that the content management software market in the Asia Pacific region would be worth US$362 million by 2012.

How do you plan to leverage the B2B and B2G (business to government space)?

Canon follows a three-pronged strategy — focuses on products, technologies and service propositions. We want to accelerate our B2B drive by co-creative values with the customer. We are also upbeat about the B2G segment. I think telecom and BFSI and pharma verticals will be the key growth drivers for us. Around 50% of our business comes from the business imaging space. As governments are investing heavily on infrastructure upgradation, this segment is bound to record health numbers.

But will governments open their wallets in a tight market condition?

Yes, they will. In the first half of 2009, government orders remained flat. But, we are looking at 25% growth from this vertical in the second half of 2009.

What about SMBs?
<br> SMBs are another segment growing at a scorching pace. The segment contributes 25% to our business imaging vertical. On the contrary, Canon's large enterprises' business shrunk 20% in first half of 2009. The enterprise segment will not see a turnaround in the next 6 months. In difficult times, SMBs are a good bet and we are expecting 20% growth from this sector in the second half of 2009.

How did you stay the course in a slowdown?

Canon was able to absorb the negative impact because of its diversified product basket. The brightest spot in the overall worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market during the first quarter of 2009 (1Q09) was color laser multifunction peripherals (MFPs), with its strong showing of 6% year-over-year growth in a challenging economic environment.

You are pitted against HP and Sony in the IT and camera segments. How do you plan to retain your edge in the scramble?

Canon enjoys 22% market share in cameras globally pitted against rivals like Sony, and Nikon and Kodak whereas HP and Epson are our competitors in the IT space. We will see more action from Canon in the digital cameras and laser printer portfolio this year. We have signed up 21 system integrators (SIs) like Wipro, Dell, Lenovo, HCL etc to provide systems, peripherals and servers to enterprises. We have opened three Canon

Image Lounges and the same number of Canon Business Lounges in Bangalore, Gurgaon and Mumbai. The business lounge focuses on B2B clients.

Canon wants to take the road less travelled when it comes to high-end technology. What's your take on this?

It is important for Canon to deep dive into areas like inkjet, laser and optics technologies that will comprehend things of tomorrow. We are also looking at intuitive technology that finds inspiration from our eyes which can easily grasp colours and light.

APPLE UPGRADE
The Financial Express

Apple has upgraded its aluminium body MacBook Pro lineup with 40%additional battery life. Its new offerings include 13-inch, 15-inch and 17inch models. Each MacBook Pro includes an LED-backlit display with greater colour intensity, glass multi-touch track pad, an illuminated keyboard, an SD card or Express Card slot, a Fire Wire 800 port and state of the art NVIDIA graphics.

Starting at Rs 74,400, the MacBook Pro line is more affordable than ever, with some models up to Rs 37,000 less than the previous generation

 

Computer Hardware Update: 2/7/09

TOSHIBA INDIA ROLLS OUT NEW NOTEBOOK PCS
Chennai
The Hindu

Toshiba India has launched its new line-up of notebook PC products. The range comprises two mini-notebook PCs and four mainstream notebook PCs. The new range is loaded with design features, says a release.

PC PLAYERS REJIG PLANS TO TIDE OVER SLOWDOWN
Surabhi Agarwal, New Delhi
The Financial Express

After a deep lull in the PC market that lasted for almost six months, the desktops and laptops space has been witnessing renewed action in the last few weeks. While there have been several product launches from the stable of leading players like HP, others like Acer and Lenovo are carrying out major re-branding exercises in order to rejig their India strategy.

According to market analysts, the slowdown in demand has forced major players to re-look their overall India strategy and they are seeing this as a perfect time to plug loopholes and carry out the necessary changes before the market picks up again.

"The consumer market is showing some signs of recovery and players want to create enough excitement in the market right now. They want to be ready with the right kind of offerings," said Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst at market research firm Gartner Research. He added that India continued to be hugely under-penetrated in terms of its overall PC penetration, which also explains the action in the space.

While HP launched six notebooks (including one priced at Rs 23,000) recently, Lenovo topped it by introducing seven new products, which included an all-in-one desktop and a netbook. According to Lenovo India's managing director Amar Babu, the company has so far focused largely on the premium end of the segment. It is now aggressively looking at the entry level and the value-for-money segment. Levono will introduce 50 new products in India, which will span the entire range of the spectrum.

LENOVO WANTS TO DO A CHINA IN INDIA
New Delhi
The Times of India

Personal computer (PC) manufacturer Lenovo, struggling at the fifth position among PC makers in India, is looking at emulating its China success in other emerging markets including India.

"We have restructured our global business and have divided markets into the emerging and developed market categories. Our thrust remains on the emerging market because of the tremendous potential, and we will bring in the best practices from China to these markets," Lenovo India managing director Amar Babu said.

"India remains on the top of the pack in our emerging markets business," he told reporters here.

Lenovo, which started off as Legend in 1984 in China, commands over 30 percent of the computer market there. The big deal which sprang the regional player into the international arena was the acquisition of IBM's personal computing division in 2005.

"We have grown over a 100 percent in terms of market share after we took over IBM," Babu says.

According to technology research firm IDC, Lenovo's market share slipped from 6.6 percent of the Indian PC market in the last quarter of 2008 to 4.7 percent in the first quarter this year when the Indian PC market contracted 19 percent year-on-year.

SAMSUNG LAUNCHES NEW CHANNEL FOR SALES
Hyderabad
The Hindu Business Line& The Economic Times (Mumbai edition)

Samsung, a leading consumer electronics products company, has opened a new channel for sales by opening its first ‘IT brandshop’ here on Wednesday. .

“Most of our sales, up to 95 percent, come from channel and government business. We have decided to give a big push to direct retailing through the branded IT shops,” Ranjit S. Yadav, Director (IT Business), of Samsung India, said.

The exposure to channel and government business helped Samsung from being hit by slowdown. He, however, refused to spell out the financial figures for Samsung India.

Yadav, along with Jung Soo Shin, President and Chief Executive Officer (South West Asia), Samsung, was here in connection with the launch of the maiden IT retail shop.

Yadav said the company would next go to eight top cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, to set up branded outlets.

The outlets would sell all consumer products from Samsung ranging from mobile phones, cameras, notebooks and printers. The wi-fi enabled outlets would let customers “experience the products,” Yadav said.

 

Computer Industry Update: 1/7/09

LENOVO TO LAUNCH 50 PRODUCTS IN CONSUMER SEGMENT THIS YEAR
New Delhi
Business Standard  Mint  Financial Chronicle  

Bullish on the consumer segment, Chinese computer giant Lenovo today said it will launch 50 new products this year to strengthen its product portfolio.

"India is a very important market for us and we will launch a series of products in the market here... The consumer segment has seen a strong demand and we will launch 50 products in this segment this year," Lenovo India Managing Director Amar Babu said here.

Lenovo today launched seven new notebooks and netbooks in the Indian market in the price range of Rs 22,500 - Rs 1.04 lakh as a part of the consumer segment, which comprises about 40 percent of the Indian revenues. The company sells about 150,000 units quarterly.

"The notebooks would currently be imported, but as the demand increases, we can look at production here," Babu said.

The company has a manufacturing facility in Pondicherry with a capacity of three million units annually.

According to IDC's report on PC shipment for the January-March 2009 period, Lenovo's market share came down to 4.7 percent in the said period from 6.6 percent in Q4 in 2008.

"This was a result of the slowdown in PC shipments in general as well as enterprise purchases being slow. But, over the next quarters we expect the demand to rise on the back of government buying and also a strong demand from the consumer segment," Babu said.

SMARTPHONES, LAPTOPS HELP EMPLOYEES BOOST PRODUCTIVITY: SURVEY
New Delhi
Mint

Majority of the employees in the Asia-Pacific region feel that new technology devices like smartphones and laptops have boosted their productivity, says a survey.

According to a recent survey conducted by global workforce solutions provider Kelly Services, 62% of employees in the Asia-Pacific region said that their work productivity is “much better” due to new technology devices.

About 24% felt that their productivity was “slightly better” with such technologies.

The survey revealed that 75% of the respondents worldwide consider the opportunity provided by devices such as smartphones and laptops to remain in constant contact with work, as a positive development.

About 1,00,000 people in 34 countries covering North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, participated in the survey.

George Corona, who is Kelly Services’ executive vice president and chief operating officer said that the spread of mobile technologies is transforming the way that people interact with their work and their attitudes towards employment.

“There is an overwhelming view that the technology provides greater flexibility in working arrangements, and a better balance between work and personal life,” Corona said.

FREE AND USEFUL...DOES YOUR PC HAVE THESE?
Ashish Bhatia
Mint

- With an alphabet soup of media file formats floating around, it’s tough to figure out what you need to play the video you downloaded last. VLC is probably the only multimedia player that can play virtually any video or audio file. Apart from being able to grapple with various popular and unpopular formats, it also handles DVDs, VCDs and various streaming protocols without sending you back to the Net to search for external codecs.
- Need to convert video for your portable media player or squeeze that humongous file into a more lightweight, portable format? Download the humbly-named, though very capable, all-in-one video converting tool, Any Video Converter.
- If editing, tweaking, tuning audio files is what you want to do, the easy-to-use Audacity is simply the best free audio editor around.
- Don’t think that only an expensive program such as Adobe Photoshop can manipulate images so magically. Get GIMP, a close equivalent. It may not be as sophisticated as the world’s favourite application, but it’s robust and competent. If you want a more Photoshop-like feel, get GIMP shop.
- Lastly, to find, organize, manage, tweak and share your collection of images, there is nothing on planet earth as slick as Picasa.

Security

Even as the news of pop culture phenomenon Michael Jackson’s death ricocheted around the world, developers at Google and Yahoo were panicking.

The reason? They thought that the sudden upsurge in traffic was a virus attack. If technology behemoths such as these can fear attacks on their servers, you surely need to be doubly certain of your security options.

- If you are looking for a good antivirus to keep gremlins at bay, download the AVG Free Edition.
- You need further protection in the form of Spybot—Search and Destroy. This is a great free tool for detecting and removing all sorts of spyware that find their way into computers.
- Also get Ad-Aware, a tool for the detection of, and protection against, malicious intruders such as spyware, trojans, rootkits, hijackers and keyloggers, among others.
- You can’t ignore Secunia Personal Software Inspector. This tracks security vulnerabilities in well-known applications and monitors your PC for known exploits. When found, PSI points you to a security patch.
- Now, this one is for all of us who use multiple passwords for our different accounts. You can save yourself the trouble of remembering all these passwords by installing KeePass. An iron-clad, little master key, cubby hole safe, it caches all your passwords in one place very securely encrypted.

Office Productivity

- Instead of cajoling your vendor to install a pirated copy of Microsoft Office on your PC, download OpenOffice. This almost equally competent, multi-platform, multilingual office suite gives you word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and database management for free.
- Top that with TinySpell, a spellchecker that monitors your spelling in all text that you input in any program. This download’s replacement suggestions are drawn from an American-English database of 110,000 words that you can append your own words to as well. A major drawback of the free version is that it doesn’t highlight mistakes within the text, but gives you suggestions only as you type.
- Windows’ default notepad was born when dinos roamed the earth. Well, almost. Download the powerful and eminently usable Notepad++ with its tabbed multi-doc interface, drag and drop support, and macro recording capabilities, among others, instead.
- Postbox, with its Web 2.0-ish feel and tabbed interface, is a good desktop email alternative that also allows you to upload to Twitter, FriendFeed, MySpace, Delicious and Google. It offers great search capabilities—even for images. - Don’t mindlessly download Adobe Reader just because everyone has it. Try Foxit Reader first. It’s much faster on its feet and weighs only about 3.5MB, against Reader’s 25.5MB.

Utilities

- One of the biggest irritants on a new PC are craplets—pre-installed adware and trialware—that come with big brand PCs. The PC Decrapifier is a diagnostic utility that searches for known craplets on your PC and lists such instances. You can peruse this list and uninstall whatever you want.
- And because Windows Add and Remove doesn’t kill all components—files, folders and registry keys—efficiently, you need something as lethal and painless as Revo Uninstaller to do the job.
- Talking of searches, a good search tool is an essential program sorely missing on all PCs. Try Everything, a superfast local search engine that locates files and folders almost instantly. You have to use it once to realize how fleet-footed it is. - For a file compression/decompression application, fetch 7-Zip. This tackle-all archiving/unzipping program integrates with your right-click menu and even handles Mac-formatted archives, multi-file RAR packages, ISO images and more.
- Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology saves us a lot. And the king of all programs VoIP is Skype. A must-download for everyone using the Net for video and voice chats, this top-drawer, peer-to-peer program boasts instant messaging (IM), screen sharing, contact sharing, as well as birthday reminders, among other features.

NEW WEB GADGET FROM DELL
Bengaluru
The Asian Age

Dell, the world’s No.2 PC maker, is developing a pocket-sized device for tapping into the Internet, the Wall Street Journal said citing people familiar with the company’s plans.

The gadget would run on Google’s Android software, the people said.

According to the paper, two people who saw early prototypes described the device as slightly larger than Apple’s iPod Touch, which is similar to the iPhone but does not have cellphone capabilities.

Another person who was briefed on the firm’s plans said, that Dell may begin selling the device later this year, though this person said the plan could be delayed or scrapped entirely. A Dell spokesman declined to comment on any plans for the product category.

Dell may use chips based on designed licensed from ARM Holdings PLC, people familiar with the firm’s plans said.

 

Computer Industry News: 30/06/09

INNOVATION DOESN'T SLUMP
Nishant Ratnakar
DNA

In a challenging business environment that we find ourselves today, innovation has become the major differentiator in the marketplace. DNA got together seven prominent industry players cutting across the semiconductor ecosystem to see what sets apart the successful innovators from the also-ran. Not surprisingly, the consensus was on customer-led innovation.

- S Janakiraman, president & CEO (product engineering services), Mindtree Ltd
- Sanjay Nayak, MD & CEO, Tejas Networks
- Arindam Sen, GM (south Asia ops for Performance Technologies), GE Health Vijayaraghava Chitti, manager (systems & processes), Conzerv
- Ajay Vasudeva, head of R&D, Nokia India
- Poornima Shenoy, president, India Semiconductor Association
- Bobby Mitra, president & MD, Texas Instruments India

Excerpts:

Can you give us an overview as to how companies are integrated into the semiconductor value chain.

Poornima Shenoy: Semiconductors are two stages removed from the customers. But if you look at it, the bulk of customers are the systems companies, some of whom are represented here. The role of systems companies in the semiconductor space is important because if change has to happen, it has to be driven by them.

Bobby Mitra: As Poornima rightly said, the semiconductor industry in India has been looking at innovation as an important agenda. There is no other way for the semiconductor companies to be successful other than anchoring innovation on the customer. Look at any segment that comprises the semiconductor ecosystem -- mobile handsets, telecom infrastructure, the energy sector, or software companies involved in writing code for semiconductors -- the bottom line is that the system level innovation is tied to customers.

Talking of system level innovation, how do ideas get translated into products?

S Janakiraman: I look at it more like the Mindtree organisation. Ten years ago, it was very different when the West was looking at India. The drivers at that point were whether I can get a cost arbitrage or a talent advantage. But in the last ten years, the industry has matured to a level where it is delivering a notch above customers' expectations.

The second thing is that customers in the semiconductor industry want us not just to design the integrated circuit, but also to help them take it to the market. Similarly, system companies are asking us if we can take them to the service providers and system integrators.

Companies are making products and services for a market larger than their own backyard. How do they arrive at this matrix?

Ajay Vasudeva: Nokia's philosophy is to inspire innovation. Organisations need to spend time, money and resources on creating a culture of innovation. So we want to know what's on our customers' minds and mine data accordingly. We have a huge role to play in rural mobility. For instance, Nokia Life Tools Agriculture services aim to plug the information gaps and needs of the farmers by providing information on seeds, fertilizers, market prices, and weather via mobile phones.

How important is innovation during the downturn?

Arindam Sen: Innovation doesn't take a vacation in a downturn. Companies often miss the clinical need in the healthcare space. There is a skewed ratio when it comes to healthcare spends. Only 10% of the population gets 80% of the healthcare benefits. In India, over 700 million don't have access to healthcare. GE's priority is to drive access and reduce costs. We are putting aside a $5 billion global fund to drive healthcare innovation.

We have two different approaches at play here. Conzerv is delivering niche technology globally and Texas Instruments is offering solutions to cater to the local market. How is innovation fuelling this drive?

Vijayaraghava Chitti: Conzerv realised the need for a better consumer connect. After conducting internal studies, we found that there might be a pattern and timing to the economy, and we could align some of our initiatives in this direction. As part of online monitoring systems, we came up with the dashboard, which gave us an accurate capture of customers' perception on what we were delivering vis-à-vis what they required.

Mitra: Over 1. 6 billion people in the world lack access to electricity and 25% of them live in India. To narrow the gap, we have developed a solution based on the LED (light-emitted diode). There is economics behind it.

What is the engagement model between the systems companies and the semiconductor firms?

Sanjay Nayak: The good news is that the ecosystem in India has evolved as co-creators of innovation. It all started with the services companies building a huge base of talent. Then MNCs like TI and Synopsys brought technology to India and systems players put it all together. India has emerged as a strong market for consumer technologies in the last 5 years.

The cost arbitrage is important for India. But there is a dilemma when it comes to volume versus price. How do you tackle this?

Nayak: Let me give you an example. India adds 11 million subscribers every month whereas the population of Israel is 7.5 million. We add an Israel every month. Does that count? Not much. The momentum is coming from the emerging markets. Look at what Nano has done to world. It's about creating a disruptive affordability benchmark.

Janakiraman: Previously, to sell some product in the third world market, companies would downsize the product and remove some of its features. But today, that's not the case. The demands of the customer is on par with the rest of the world. Innovation starts with how you can amortise costs over volumes rather than addressing a few niche customers.

Mitra: I will give you an interesting example. Tampering meters is rampant in India. We have come up with electronic meters which are tamper-proof with advanced features like the remote meter reading. From a semiconductor point of view, it is important to know whether the chip has right interfaces required by customers.

What is Nokia's stand?

Vasudeva: I think we are driven by consumer insights. Then we start working with our partners within the ecosystem to come up with a unique handset. On the software side, how we drive our people to think differently starts from the non-hierarchical structure. We encourage risk-taking. We believe in fail fast and scale fast philosophy.

Mitra: We have identified India as a very important growth market. We may have the best chips, but how to use them in the systems context is a big part of innovation. That's where the role of applications engineer comes in. In TI, we have created a footprint of 14 offices in India that are close to the customers with the intent of supporting sales and application.

Chitti: At Conzerv, we have set up the iLabs for pursuing R&D. iLabs has benchmarked the future of energy management through standards defining research and evolving technologies to develop products that are characterised by accuracy and reliability.

 

SEMICONDUCTOR ACT, 2000
The Economic Times

Layout designs of integrated circuits (ICs) cost organisations a great deal. There is a continuous demand for more advanced strains of layout design. Since integrated circuits are now commonplace in mass-produced electronic appliances such as television sets, sound systems, etc, there is a greater need to protect innovative and meticulously developed technology from duplication. Replication by means of photocopying each layer of an integrated circuit and using these to prepare masks is a peril that has been addressed by the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000.

The Act calls for the maintenance of a registry wherein the details of designs such as the name, address and description of the proprietor are to be recorded. A layout design is considered original if it is the result of the creator's intellectual effort and is not commonly known to similar creators and manufacturers at the time of its creation. Where a layout design has been created as a result of the execution of a commission or an employment contract, the right of registration belongs to the person who commissioned the work or the employer.

However, registration will be valid only for a period of ten years from the date of filing the application for registration or from the date of the first commercial exploitation, whichever is earlier. A registered layout design is infringed by a person who, without being the registered proprietor or user, reproduces or incorporates the design or imports, sells or distributes it for commercial purposes. Penalties for design infringement include imprisonment for a term, which may extend to three years, or a fine varying between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh or both. It may also include the forfeiture of assets related to the offence to the Government.

Computer Industry Updates: 26/06/09

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS BETS ON EMERGING BUSINESSES
S Shyamala, Chennai
Financial Chronicle

Semiconductor major Texas Instruments India (TI) is betting big on emerging business areas such as home automation, wireless technologies and domestic low-cost medical equipment manufacturing. Though the global semiconductor market is expected to shrink by about 5 percent, the Asia Pacific region including India will see a healthy growth, a company official said.

The Indian semiconductor market was worth about $2.4 billion in 2008 and it is expected to grow by at least 13 percent this year, said Srinivas Kasa, general manager, South, sales and marketing, Texas Instruments India. However, Kasa refused to reveal financial details and expectations of the company for the year in India.

Emerging growth areas including light-emitting diode (LED) lighting devices, liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions and video surveillance will help in propelling the company’s growth in the country, he added. TI markets more than 50,000 semiconductor products catering to several business verticals such as automobiles, energy, telecom, industrial applications and medicine.

“Although our research and development centre is present in India for the past 23 years, we started focusing on the region as a potential market only in the past three years. There are no local semiconductor companies catering to the needs of the market. We have a large opportunity and have accordingly expanded our sales set up to 14 tier-I and tier-II cities in India,” he added. The Asia Pacific region is the largest revenue contributor to the company because of the enormous manufacturing activities in China, Taiwan, the Philippines and India, he said. Though growth in the sales of consumer electronics and hence semiconductors may be tapered down across the world, the Asia Pacific may not be largely affected because of the local demand, Kasa added.

 

HP REJIGS MKT PLANS ALONG MICRO LINES
Writankar Mukherjee, Kolkata
The Economic Times (Bangalore edition)

Hewlett-Packard (HP), India’s largest PC vendor by market share, has decided to micro segment the Indian notebook market to roll out products suiting the specific needs of users. The company has identified segments like casual gamers, women, youth, doctors, chartered accountants and architects to be harbouring huge possibilities for customised notebooks.

This is a significant shift in HP’s go-to-market strategy because till now the company had segmented the Indian market into consumer, enterprise, SMBs, government and education.

HP TARGETS PUBLISHING, PHARMA INDUSTRY IN GUJARAT
Mumbai/Ahmedabad
Business Standard

The imaging and printing division of Hewlett-Packard India (HP) will be focusing on pharma and publishing industry in Gujarat in the near future. The company is also planning to increase its footprint in the state, which accounts for around 17 percent of HP’s business.

“We will look at bigger opportunities in markets like pharma and publishing for our digital printing business. Around 80 percent of pharma revenues comes from Gujarat. Publishing industry is also growing rapidly at 30 percent per annum.

Therefore, it is being looked from a strategic perspective as far as the digital printing business in Gujarat is concerned,” said Puneet Chadha, director - graphic solutions business, imaging and printing group, Hewlett-Packard India

The company has already strengthened its position in the digital printing space by launching its Indigo Digital Offset Press in Gujarat. For this, HP has tied up with Gandhinagar-based Printwell Offset, an end-to-end digital offset printing solutions provider.

“The Indigo Digital Offset Press will offer a range of unique offerings for home consumers as well as businesses that address the latent gaps in the conventional analogue-based printing industry,” Chadha added.

According to Chadha, typically, an Indigo Digital Offset Press installation costs around Rs 3 crore.

INTEL RIDES ON ATOM TO TARGET NET-CONNECTED DEVICES MARKET
Chennai
The Hindu Business Line

Change your profile on Facebook, watch a video clip that your daughter recommends and edit your resume; all on your mobile while retaining the experience you had doing all these on your PC. The Atom, Intel’s newest microprocessor, would help replicate the PC’s ease of use on the mobile, said Navin Shenoy, Intel’s Vice-President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific. He was addressing reporters from The Hindu Group of publications.

Shenoy said the Atom, which was launched last year, would help Intel target three new markets: the smart phone market; the consumer electronics market (such as set top boxes having the Atom processor); and the embedded systems market, which would include ATMs and digital surveillance systems.

Showcasing a couple of products under Intel’s Project Blue, Shenoy said the Atom helped address affordability issues in PCs. He said fully functional computer with the Atom chip (and with Internet access through WiMax technology) would be available as soon as WiMax networks are up in India; as also a Net-top computer that addressed the entry level market with prices in the Rs 10,000-12,000 range, without in-built Net connectivity capability.

According to him, Internet sites are typically built on the X86 architecture and the Atom, built using that architecture, helps replicate the PC experience on mobile Internet devices.

Asked if Intel has not already missed the mobile phone revolution, Shenoy said, “We came into the market five years ago but we brought nothing unique to the voice market. But now, with the Atom, we are able to uniquely address the Net-connected devices market.”

He also clarified that Intel had recently rationalised its worldwide capacity and had no plans to invest in new factories in India.

Commenting on the cyclicality of the semiconductor industry, Shenoy said, “We tend to see the downturn six months early. Likewise for the revival.”

He added that the last two to three months had been stable.

INDIA’S PC MARKET TO WITNESS FLAT GROWTH IN 2009: GARTNER SURVEY
Mumbai
The Financial Express   

Gartner’s recent survey predicts that the Indian PC market will be flat in 2009, witnessing a decline of 0.8% from 2008, which is an upward revision from its earlier projection made in February 2009 of 3.7% decline.

According to sources, India PC market shipments was flat in CY 2008 at 7.98 million units. Gartner predicts, a worldwide PC shipment is likely to reach 274 million units in 2009, a 6% decline from 2008 shipments of 292 million.

Gartner now expects the PC market to post positive growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, setting the stage for a healthy market recovery in 2010 with units forecast to grow 10.3%.

Gartner’s latest forecast is more positive than its preliminary forecast from mid-May, which anticipated a 6.6% unit decline in 2009, and considerably stronger than its last detailed forecast from March, which projected a 9.2% unit decline.

However, analysts are still wary to say that the worst is over and the market is recovering.

“PC unit growth was stronger than we expected in all markets but Eastern Europe in the first quarter of 2009. In particular, consumer shipments were much stronger than we anticipated,” said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner in a press release.

“However, professional shipments continued to struggle,” he added.

The rate of decline in PC sales globally has been slowed due to the continuing popularity of mini-notebooks, with units on target to reach 21 million this year and 30 million in 2010, said Gartner.

Mobile-PC shipments are set to reach 149 million units in 2009, a 4.1% increase from 2008, but spending on mobile PCs is expected to decline 12.8% as mobile-PC average selling prices continue to drop at an unprecedented rate, the analyst firm added.

“However, mini-notebook units posted their first quarter-over-quarter decline in the first quarter of 2009,” said Shiffler.

Gartner analysts said the impact of Windows 7’s release in October on the PC market is likely to be very modest.

“Although the buzz surrounding Windows 7 has generally been quite positive, we don’t expect the market to significantly deviate from its normal seasonal trends in reaction to its release,” said Shiffler.

INFY'S LOSS, CHIP MAKERS GAIN
C Chitti Pantulu. Bangalore
DNA (Bangalore edition)

The baton holders of the semiconductor industry have a reason to smile. After the appointment of Nandan Nilekani as the first chairman of the nascent National Unique Identification Authority of India (UID), the industry will get a fillip from smart cards.

According to industry estimates, the UID project could cost anywhere between Rs 10,000-15,000 crore over the next 4-6 years. The heart of the smart card is the embedded chip, which is supplied by a handful of companies in the country.

"The national ID card initiative and its anticipated implementation is expected to propel the market for smart cards in India," said Poornima Shenoy, president, India

Semiconductor Association (ISA). The ISA had estimated the smart card market in India to grow to $92 million by 2010. However, with the initiation of the UID project this number could catapult several fold.

The technology itself is not new. But the complexity arises with the amount of data to be written on to it, explained Ashok Chandok, senior director, global sales and marketing at NXP Semiconductors, which supplies these chips to more than 80 countries. NXP supplied the chips for an earlier pilot project for a smart card-based citizenship identity programme that was carried out in 13 districts across 9 states in 2007.

Each card could cost anywhere between Rs 20-150 each depending up on how much data and security is to be written on it, Chandok added. He explained that each card would have a micro computer built in and could hold between 32KB and 64KB data enough to save 10 fingerprints, one photograph and several more data fields.

Such cards are already being used by the Delhi Metro and the Bangalore Metropolitan

Transportation Corporation (BMTC) for fare collection, apart from a host of road transport authorities.

But given that close to a billion people will have to be covered under the UID project for which the government had allocated Rs 100 crore in the interim budget, it opens up a huge potential for smart card makers.

However, whether this will be enough incentive for semiconductor companies to set up fabs in India to manufacture a specific purpose chip is something that remains to be seen.

"But the growth of smart cards will have a direct bearing on the anticipated surge in the market for application specific standard products (ASSP), cards during the forecast period," observed ISA's Shenoy.