News & Events
Indian PC market to touch 8.5 million units in 2008-2009
| The PC market in India is poised to touch 8.5 million units in 2008-09, according to a study by MAIT, the apex body representing India’s IT hardware, training and R&D service sectors.
Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director of MAIT, says, “The notebook sector will see a growth of nearly 65% in the next year, which is a quantum jump in the industry.” Aggressive pricing and demand in purchase due to IT initiated applications including education and household usage, will further boost the demand.
He adds, “Notebook usage has driven the PC market and sales figures have crossed 1.8 million units so far.” States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Goa with IT-focused strategies and established small-and-medium enterprises (SME) are driving the need for PCs. The growth in BPO and IT-enabled services, e-governance initiatives, telecom, banking and financial service sectors has also played a vital part, he says.
“Besides increasing PC sales, Broadband services are gaining acceptance and will open new vistas for content generation,” says Mukul Singhal, President, MAIT.
However, DSL and cable will be the common means for Internet connectivity among businesses. 43% businesses depend upon these mediums for Internet connectivity, 16% use dial-up connections, 7% use leased-line, 12% use data cards, 2% use VSAT and 18% use ISDN services, he shares.
|
Tier II cities emerge on IT map
Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country which has four Tier II cities with potential IT and BPO locations, according to a NASSCOM-AT Kearney study on ‘Location roadmap for IT-BPO growth: Assessment of 50 leading cities’.
To move to the next level, the four cities - Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy - will have to create the required pull to attract talent, strengthen infrastructure, improve the quality of life, and increase inclusivity to accommodate the demographic diversity that growth will accompany.
The Indian IT-BPO sector has been a frontrunner of economic development in select cities, providing employment to a large number of people and improving the overall quality of life and amenities like education and healthcare in these cities. |
|
Indian employers most optimistic in hiring: Manpower Employment Outlook Survey
Of the 5,636 employers surveyed, 45 percent expect an increase in hiring activity in the third quarter of 2008.
The Indian job market is expected to remain positive yet cautious in the third quarter of 2008.
Of the 32 countries and territories surveyed globally this quarter, employer hiring intentions continue to be robust in India with an overall Net Employment Outlook of 45 percent, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
The global slowdown has impacted the traditionally top countries in the quarterly survey such as Singapore and Peru, which follow India closely at second and third spot with 42 and 40 percent, respectively.
Quarter Three surveys represent an increase of 6 percentage points quarter-over-quarter and a 7 percentage points increase year-over-year.
Employers in the Services sector are notably optimistic about adding employees in the next three months.
Employers in all 8 countries and territories surveyed across the Asia-Pacific region anticipate positive hiring activity for the third quarter.
|
|
Indian IT-ITES industry to create 10 million jobs by 2010
|
The Indian IT-ITES industry is India’s largest employment generator in the organized sector of today, creating jobs for over 7.5 million people both directly and indirectly. As per NASSCOM research, this figure is expected to cross 10 million by 2010. A varied combination of factors have led to this - healthy growth environment, attractive remuneration and different kinds of employment opportunities in the new economy based on varying skill sets, and above all, the availability of talent in India which meets employment projections.
”What we do need to work on is the quality factor to ensure we remain the highest employment generator and maintain our share of the global offshore IT and ITES industry,” asserts NASSCOM President Kiran Karnik.
Addressing the aspect of new destinations for the IT-ITES industry, Karnik adds, “Today, this employment is spread across many cities, and the industry is increasingly going to Tier II and Tier III cities.
According to NASSCOM, the top 20 companies in India collectively employ over 500,000 people of the 1.6 million employed directly in the IT-ITES industry. As per NASSCOM rankings of the top 20 IT-ITES employers in India for FY 06-07 TCS is the leader, followed by Infosys Technologies and Wipro Technologies.
|
China Tops U.S. in Surfing Population
They said it would happen and it has: China says it has more people surfing the Web than the United States.
The China Internet Network Information Center estimated the country has 253 million people online at the end of June, a 56 percent increase from a year ago.
Microsoft to Spend Big to Go After Google
So much Microsoft news, so little time.
In a meeting with analysts, CEO Steve Ballmer said Microsoft will spend at least $2.5 billion a year to compete with Google in the lucrative online advertising market, reports Bloomberg in The Washington Post.
The company is expanding its relationship with Facebook.
DNS Flaw Being ‘Weaponized in the Field’
Security guru Dan Kaminsky is warning that the Domain Name System flaw he discovered is now being “weaponized out in the field.”
BBC News reports there is anecdotal evidence that hackers have launched small-scale attacks using the code that was accidentally leaked earlier this week in a Matasano company blog.
|
