BANGALORE, INDIA: Dell India, a leading computer manufacturer, said it has emerged as the third largest player in the Indian market with a 7.6 percent market share. As per the latest IDC data, the company that had a 4 percent market share two years ago, registered the higher growth with the local manufacturing capacity being doubled. 

Dell also registered an impressive 99 percent jump in sale of units across all products during the first quarter for this fiscal.

Talking to CIOL, Sameer Garde, Country General Manager of Dell India says: "Dell is aimed at achieving new heights with the dedication of Sriperumbudur factory entirely to the country. We have doubled our production capacity from 2007 and the factory can now handle up to 1 million units."

The company commenced its third manufacturing in July 2007 in a 50-acre plot located in SIPCOT, Sriperumbudur. "We started with the production of 400,000 units of desktops and later added even laptops covering the entire range from Latitude to Vostro and Inspiron & XPS series," says Garde.

Besides, the unit also manufactures XPS 730 & XPS 1730 for gaming; PowerEdge R300 & T300 Servers and also Dell 500, a laptop for India targeting at the government, SMB and the education institutions.

In fact, Dell claims to be the leader in the large enterprise category of computers and No 2 in the X86 server category.

Earlier, our retailing was either limited to online or direct sales and since April 2008, the company also is selling through channel partners. "As part of the retail initiative, Dell range of computers is also being sold at Tata Chrome outlet in Mumbai," adds Garde.

"Another reason for this jump has been more thrust given to the laptop segment to achieve a higher growth rate. We have launched laptops exclusively for the Indian market like the Dell 500," says Rajiv Ahuja, Director Communications of Dell APACS. 

Dell has introduced an easy-to-use, efficient and affordable laptop computer, the Dell 500, a product designed especially for customers in emerging countries such as India and China. Developed with the aim of delivering affordable mobility to SMEs, education and the public sector, the Dell 500 laptop computer is said to offer enhanced mobile computing in configurations starting at Rs 24,500.

The Dell 500 offers the choice of pre-loaded Microsoft Windows XP Home or Ubuntu Linux full application suite, onsite next-business-day warranty in about 600+ cities and features such as a 8-in-1 card reader and direct multi media playback buttons. The Dell 500 laptop offers easy connectivity and enhanced mobility with a host of wireless access options.

"India is the fastest growing market for Dell worldwide and laptops have emerged as the fastest growing form factor. In fact, Dell has decided to focus on laptops worldwide as a strategic growth priority, and the start of laptop production in India is an important part of our plans," adds Ahuja.

"Manufacturing the range of laptop computers in India will enable us to deliver even greater value and a superior experience to our customers, offering us competitive advantages in terms of speed delivery and cycle time. This is a vital next step in our strategy for leading growth and success in India," said Garde.

Dell International

Dell International started in India seven years ago has now forayed into Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO).

Speaking to CIOL, Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, VP & Managing Director of Dell International Services India says, "We began in Bangalore basically to provide customer support to English speaking countries about seven years ago and then on moved to technical support, procurement of financial back office and now to Knowledge outsourcing including analytics and process engineering."

The company operates its services from four centers based at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Gurgoan. "We have grown 12 folds over the last seven years" remarks Lakshminarayanan.