Computer Industry : 03/06/09

 

PICTURE PERFECT
The Economic Times

Epson launched TX700W photo printer. Its high-speed micro Piezo print head with a 6-color Claria photographic ink-set ensures sharp and vivid pictures.

INTEL UNVEILS PROCESSORS FOR ULTRA-THIN LAPTOPS
New Delhi
Business Standard  Financial Chronicle  The Hindu Business Line  The Economic Times  

The world's largest chip maker Intel today unveiled its a new range of mobile processors which would enable PC makers like HCL and Acer design lightweight, power-efficient and ultra-thin laptops.

The new range called 'Pine Trail' is an Intel Atom processor-based platform for netbooks and nettops.

"These new chips have integrated technologies like WiMax, which we feel will drive the PC penetration in India and help bridge the digital divide... We expect the new chip-integrated devices to be available in India in the later half of this year," Intel Director (Marketing-South Asia) Prakash Bagri said.

The new range was unveiled at technology trade show 'Computex', being held in Taiwan.

Netbooks are compact mobile devices designed for basic Internet-related tasks such as browsing, listening to music, e-mailing and viewing videos. They are suited for first-time Internet users and can also be used for playing basic online games, social networking and making voice-over-IP phone calls.

"Intel has also announced the launch of a programme 'Project Blue', which would address the digital divide problem with the help of affordable computing and broadband," Bagri said, adding, the company is developing Internet-centric computing devices like WiMax-enabled nettops as a part of the initiative.

INDIRECT PC SALES TO GROW: STUDY
Business Standard  Mail Today  

Customer preferences will continue to push the PC market from direct to indirect sales during the next four years, forcing manufacturers to do a better job of customer segmentation and go-to-market strategies, said Gartner Inc, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company.

CANON BETTING BIG ON INDIA; 30% MARKET SHARE IN EASTERN REGION
Kolkata
The Hindu Business Line  The Economic Times (Delhi edition)  Business Standard  The Times of India  

Kensaku Konishi, President & CEO, Canon India Private Ltd, said between January and May, the company clocked 21 percent growth in sales vis-à-vis 10 percent drop worldwide by the parent company.

"We want to grow in India which at the moment is focusing on the domestic market and faring better than some other economies," Konishi said here on Tuesday at a press conference.

India currently accounts for less than one percent of the Canon's global revenue.

The company targeted Rs 840-crore sales in 2009, up by an estimated 25 percent over Rs 665 crore in 2008, he said. In 2008, Canon's sales worldwide increased by 10 percent over the previous year.

"Canon has been building capacity in India despite the slowdown," Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice-President. The company's business in the eastern region, he pointed out, had grown at a faster rate compared with other regions.

Its market share in the eastern region during the first quarter of 2009 was 30 percent against 22 percent all over India.

The region contributed 20 percent to the company's total revenues in India.

"The small towns in the eastern region are performing well," Bharadwaj said, adding that nearly 40 percent of the revenue from the region came from places other than West Bengal.

The State ranks third after Maharashtra and Delhi in terms of its overall sales.

The Tokyo-headquartered parent company infused Rs 100 crore two months ago into the Indian subsidiary raising its capital base to Rs 124 crore.

The investments would go to strengthen the B2B segment, particularly the business of renting out printers and other equipment to enterprises, Konishi said.

It also had plans of raising the number of secondary dealers to 4,000 in 2009, from 3,000, while the number of direct distributors might increase to 400 from 350.

No IPO for now
The company has no plans for further capital infusion in next two years, he added.

In reply to a question, he said the company might consider an IPO over the next two-three years if needed. "We've no immediate plans," he said.

AMD UNVEILS NEW SERVER PROCESSOR
Bangalore
The Hindu Business Line  Deccan Herald  DNA  The Hindu  The Asian Age  

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc launched its six-core Opteron server processor codenamed 'Istanbul'. The new processor would work in servers using AMD's previous range of processors. This would enable users to upgrade without investing in new servers, the company said. AMD said the new processor has up to 34 percent more performance-per-watt over the previous generation quad-core processors in the exact same platform. Systems based on the processor s are expected to be available beginning this month from companies, including Cray, Dell, HP, IBM and Sun Microsystems, along with support from motherboard and infrastructure partners. HE, SE and EE versions of the processor are planned for the second half of 2009, the company said.

HP EXPECTS REVIVAL IN SERVER SALES FROM SECOND QUARTER
Bangalore
The Hindu Business Line

After a muted 2008, Hewlett-Packard Co expects server sales in India to show signs of improvement in the second quarter of this year.

Sectors such as telecom, government and healthcare are expected to drive growth, Rajesh Dhar, Director, Industry Standard Servers, HP India Sales, said. The manufacturing sector is expected to gain momentum in the third or the fourth quarter.

The global economic downturn forced companies to put a freeze on investment plans and this impacted hardware sales, including PCs and servers.

HP has pitched for orders from the government for e-governance, power sector, State government data centres and education projects, which are all in the tendering stage, Dhar said.

He said the telecom service providers are adding consumers and the expected roll-out of 3G services would see newer value-added services being introduced, all of which will need a strong IT infrastructure. There are deals from airport modernisation projects as well, he added.

Dhar said HP sees good opportunity not only in server sales but also in services such as consolidation or virtualisation.

The Indian market has matured from just buying IT to using IT more optimally. Companies look at IT investments very strategically and a lot of optimisation will happen, he added.

IIT-B GETS A $1.5M BOOST FOR RESEARCH IN NANO TECH
Mumbai
The Times of India

Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay can dig into more funds for boosting research into semi-conductor. Global nano-manufacturing major Applied Materials signed a memorandum of understanding with the IIT-Bombay on Tuesday to pump in $1.5 million over the next three years for cutting-edge research in the areas of semiconductor technology, including on the development of state-of-the art flash memory, photovoltaic and electrochemical energy conversion devices.

Earlier, the same company had gifted three nano-manufacturing tools worth $7.5 million to IIT-B to take research in the areas of flash memory devices and solar energy to a higher level. "The laboratory is contributing to the creation of an environment that can help nurture and promote the nano manufacturing industry in India,'' said a press note from the tech college.

IIT-B is working on strengthening research in nano sciences and along with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, it has received financial assistance from the ministry of communication to set up a centre of excellence in this area. The tools donated earlier are capable of manufacturing eight-inch wafers and IIT-B was the first institute in the world to have such technology on campus.

Mark Pinto, chief technology officer and senior vice-president of Applied Materials, said, "Applied's goal is to partner with leading institutions in India, such as IIT-B, and to serve as a catalyst in the development of India's nano manufacturing eco-system.