AMI-Partners Study Reveals That India Non-PC-Owning Small Businesses Are on Track to Purchase over 4.8 Million PCs by the End of 2005; HCL, Lenovo and HP/Compaq Are Some of the PC Brands Expected to Make Inroads into the Non-PC SB Market.KOLKATA, India -- India's small businesses (SBs) constitute the vast majority (over 98%) of the country's commercial universe in terms of number of enterprises. Yet they lag behind their larger brethren when it comes to the adoption of information technology-related products and services. This is borne out by the low PC penetration rate among India SBs; only a little over one sixth of these businesses currently possess a computer. However, the situation will change quickly since India is unquestionably un·ques·tion·a·ble adj. Beyond question or doubt. See Synonyms at authentic. un·ques  tion·a·bil on its way to becoming a major IT power. Over half of India's non-PC SBs located in major cities have expressed the intent to embrace the benefits of computing technology by the end of 2005. This translates to an enormous planned PC-hardware market of over 4.8 million computers. The above findings were released today by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc., drawn from its surveys of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in key developed and emerging market countries that account for almost three fourths of total SMB (1) (Small to Medium-sized Business) Also called "SME" (small to medium-sized enterprise), it refers to companies that are larger than the small office/home office (SOHO), but not huge. IT spending. AMI is a leading consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a that specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services market intelligence -- with a strong focus on global small and medium business enterprises. AMI-Partners conducts the industry's most comprehensive annual tracking surveys of SMBs in more than 20 countries, including North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. (U.S. and Canada); Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. , Poland and Russia); Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. , India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand); and Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. (Mexico and Brazil). Barriers to PC Adoption "India SBs are definitely price sensitive when it comes to the purchase of computers," observed Dev Chakravarty, Senior Analyst at AMI-Partners. "However, non-PC SBs have clearly stated that there are other factors to be considered -- such as the high cost of PC maintenance/support and the expense of training courses. Moreover, there appears to be a dearth of PC financing/leasing options and a lack of awareness among SBs about such finance programs. PC vendors need to introduce financing schemes targeted at India SBs. Additionally they must spread awareness of these programs and educate small business owners about the advantages of computers." The necessity to evangelize e·van·gel·ize v. e·van·gel·ized, e·van·gel·iz·ing, e·van·gel·iz·es v.tr. 1. To preach the gospel to. 2. To convert to Christianity. v.intr. To preach the gospel. regarding the benefits of computers and their application in various facets of business has acquired a new dimension in the context of recent AMI research findings. More than 60% of India's non-PC SBs still maintain that computing technology has little relevance to their businesses -- or that the benefits are not worth the cost. Some are reluctant to adopt computers due to a fear that data "may get stolen or copied." Close to two in five SBs admit that they are hampered by the "complexities" of PC installation, support and utilization. Introduction of short-term computer training programs could go a long way toward overcoming these barriers and promoting PC adoption. PC Purchase Accelerants An overwhelming factor encouraging India's non-PC SBs to adopt computers is a fear of being left behind in the race for business and technological superiority. Over 40% of these businesses confess to an apprehension that others will use PCs and the Internet to gain a competitive edge. More than one third mention direct pressure by their business partners (suppliers and customers) as a motivation for purchasing PCs. The attraction of the worldwide Web is another major factor driving India non-PC SBs. These SBs want to embrace the benefits of the Internet since they believe it will put them on par with the other businesses -- both at home and abroad. India non-PC SBs would like to leverage the Internet, both in providing and receiving online customer support. This would go a long way towards improving business process efficiencies. Over a quarter of India small businesses have also stated a preference for accessing different software over the Internet, as opposed to purchasing packaged software See software package. and installing it on their PCs via diskettes and CD-ROMs. "This will enable small businesses to access their software from any computer without incurring repeated licensing costs, and is also a simpler procedure for many small business owners who are unfamiliar with the installation process, but are more comfortable with the Internet," observed Mr. Chakravarty. Insights into the Mindset mind·set or mind-set n. 1. A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations. 2. An inclination or a habit. of Prospective Buyers Assembled/white-box computers still rule the mind space of SBs intending to purchase a computer in the next 12 months. Though the gap in pricing of branded and white-box PCs has narrowed, over half of prospective PC purchasers still express a desire to buy unbranded PCs. This is due not only to price but also to the efficient and personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. service offered by the value-added resellers A value-added reseller (VAR) is a company that adds some feature(s) to an existing product(s), then resells it (usually to end-users) as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution. who mainly promote assembled computers. Among branded desktops, HCL HCl hydrochloric acid. , Lenovo and HP/Compaq have a slight edge over other manufacturers. The channel of choice for most PC-planning SBs is computer resellers/local dealers/assemblers, while over 30% intend to buy their PCs at retail stores. Bundled hardware preferences include: 1. Printers 2. Speakers 3. CD-ROM drives CD-ROM drives, which today typically means a CD-RW drive that is a combo CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW drive, come in a variety of speeds. The original drive (1x) transferred data at 150KB per second. 4. Modems 5. Scanners 6. NICs Software bundles tend to be comprised of: 1. Productivity suites (e.g., MS Office) 2. Anti-virus protection software 3. Finance/accounting software 4. Communications (fax, e-mail, voicemail) 5. Tax-related software 6. Web browsers The following is a list of web browsers. Historical Historically important browsers In order of release:
In terms of preferred PC features, approximately 75 to 80% of SBs mention processor speed and hard drive capacity as important criteria when evaluating PC configurations. Over 60% emphasize that 256 MB RAM size is imperative for smooth PC operations. Regarding operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. : close to 40% have confidence in the traditional and trusted MS Windows, while Linux is mentioned as a preference by only 5% of non-PC businesses. About AMI-Partners AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital and actionable Giving sufficient legal grounds for a lawsuit; giving rise to a Cause of Action. An act, event, or occurrence is said to be actionable when there are legal grounds for basing a lawsuit on it. market intelligence -- focusing on global small and medium business (SMB) enterprises. The AMI-Partners mission is to empower its clients for success with the highest quality data, business planning and "go-to-market" solutions. AMI was founded in 1996 under the name of Access Media International (USA), Inc. by Andy Bose, a former group vice president at IDC. Since its inception, the firm has built a world-class management team, each with ten to fifteen years' experience in IT, telecom, online communications and multimedia. AMI-Partners has helped shape the go-to-market SMB strategies of more than 150 leading IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services companies over the last nine years. The firm is well known for its IT and Internet adoption-based segmentation of the SMB markets See SMB. ; its annual retainership services based on global SMB tracking surveys; and its proprietary database of several thousand SMBs in the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The firm invests significantly in collecting survey-based information from several thousand SMBs annually, and is considered the premier source for global SMB trends and analysis. For more information about AMI-Partners or our global SMB surveys, please e-mail ask_ami@ami-partners.com, visit www.ami-partners.com, or call 212-944-5100. |
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