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Our Bureau

Mumbai, Sept. 11 Noida-based IT solutions major HCL Infosystems is keen to export its range of computers, laptops and other peripherals to countries in Africa, South Asia and Middle East. The $3.1-billion firm has already initiated the process to set up its retail distribution network in these geographies, the company’s Chairman and CEO, Mr Ajai Chowdhry told reporters here on Thursday.

The company has countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, UAE and many others in its radar. “Till now we had so many global companies selling their IT products in India; now we feel that the time is ripe for an Indian player to spread its wings. Moreover, majority regions in Africa have very low computer penetration,” Mr Chowdhry said.

In Africa alone, the average Internet penetration is 5.3 per cent with a growth of more than 1,000 per cent over the last eight years, according to internetworldstats.com. Africa comprises 3.5 per cent of the global consumers for Internet.

According to analysts, HCL’s move of spreading wings into other geographies could be a direct impact of slowdown in the PC market in India. Growth in India’s PC market had slowed down has been slowing down on account of rising oil prices and inflation, political uncertainty in the country, and news of an impending economic slowdown in the US.

HCL Infosystems is the second largest vendor of PCs in India and it currently has a market share of 10.8 per cent, according to IDC.

More Stories on : Hardware | Exports & Imports

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