• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 21 Even as its revenue fell three per cent globally on slower IT spending, PC giant Dell Inc on Friday reported a 77 per cent growth year-on-year in units and 48 per cent growth in revenue in India. The company said that the cost cutting in Asia Pacific will be ‘relatively minimal’ due to strong control on expenses and healthy growth.

Seen purely in growth terms, India has exceeded China where Dell registered a 44 per cent growth in units and 18 per cent growth in revenue.

“We had an outstanding performance in India, and our share has grown by 4 percentage points. This is 3-4 straight quarters of hyper growth. We have an excellent presence in large corporate customers and we see surging growth in SMEs and consumer business. Also, there are opportunities in education depending on the investment that Government makes in the area,” Mr Steve Felice, President, Dell Asia-Pacific and Japan said in a conference call with APAC media persons.

Asia business accounted for 16 per cent of Dell’s revenue. “India and China are about 40 per cent of that (Asia Pacific). We have seen growth in India and China, but clearly the impact is not enough to offset what is going on in the US,” he said.

Mr Felice, however, did not clearly specify whether Dell would be able to meet its previously announced intent in 2006, of doubling India headcount to 20,000 in three years’ time. “We do not disclose specific numbers…the world has changed and we have to see how it grows. That will determine where we put resources. India is a long term good place to grow, but what we do will depend on how the world economy moves,” he said.

On the impact of cost-cutting and downsizing measures on India, he said that the cost cutting in Asia Pacific would be “relatively minimal” on account of growth. “We have been careful in the APAC – we controlled the headcount growth and had a good control on expenses and have seen a healthy growth,” he said.

Announcing its global results, Dell said it would continue to focus on improving competitiveness, lowering costs and improving its mix of products and services. The company said it would continue to incur costs as it realigns its business to improve competitiveness, reduce headcount in certain areas and invest in infrastructure, growth opportunities and acquisitions. Dell said it ended the quarter with 2,200 fewer jobs than in the second quarter, and that its headcount decreased 9 per cent from the year-ago period.

Asked about the impact of the slowdown in IT spends on Dell’s business in India, he said, “There has been some slowdown and it has been documented in the IDC numbers.” Mr Felice said that the company continues to invest in areas of Research and Development and call centre activities in India and China.

More Stories on : Performance | Hardware

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line