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Vipin V. Nair

Kochi , Aug. 11

MICROSOFT is now getting serious about hardware in India. Healthy growth in personal computer (PC) sales and growing potential for gaming are making the company chalk out new strategies to capture a major share of the market in the coming years.

"We see ourselves growing our hardware and gaming business in India. We will be among the top three (players) in this business over the next three years," said Mr Mohit Anand, Manager, Home Entertainment Division (HED), Microsoft Corporation (India).

Microsoft HED currently sells in India its range of computer keyboards and mouse, PC games, education software and other software such as Office for Mac.

The Xbox game console is currently not available in India, but the product may be launched in India in the next three years, said Mr Anand.

"We are anticipating excellent PC sales in India and this offers us immense opportunities for growth. India is a big focus area for Microsoft."

PC sales in India crossed three million in the last fiscal. The Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) expects PC sales to grow by 40 per cent to 4.2 million during 2004-05.

Microsoft HED was launched in India in 1998. Today the company has 4,000 retailers selling the products across the country. It has also certified 100 retailers as Microsoft Hardware Stores.

As many as 45 types of keyboards and mouse are sold in India now, with prices ranging between Rs 195 for a mouse to Rs 5,000 for a high-end keyboard and mouse bundled together. The products are imported from Singapore and attract an import duty of 28 per cent.

Globally, Microsoft sources hardware from China. Mr Anand said that the lion's share of Microsoft peripherals are sold through assemblers.

On the gaming market in India, Mr Anand said that computer games are gaining popularity rapidly in line with growth in PC sales.

However, Microsoft is battling rampant piracy of its games, and Windows operating systems, in the country.

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