Acer India Appoints Sudhir Goel as the Chief Business Officer for India and Bangladesh

Acer India, the global PC brand, has appointed Sudhir Goel as their Chief Business Officer. Sudhir has been associated with Acer India since 1999 handling various leadership roles spanning product engineering, manufacturing, support, supply chain and recently as the head of commercial business group. In his new role as Chief Business Officer, Sudhir will be responsible for leading both the commercial and consumer business of the company in India and Bangladesh.

With over 35 years of experience, Sudhir brings in a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role in Acer India. He was instrumental in establishing Acer India’s manufacturing facility at Pondicherry. He later took on the portfolio of Chief Supply Chain officer, handling complete supply chain - operations, procurement, material planning and manufacturing functions. In addition, he assisted Sales and Marketing in strategic calls on all large deals. Before this role, he was responsible for Acer India’s commercial business group handling PnL, product strategy, alliance relationships and establishing leadership position in multiple categories. He was also in charge of the company’s product solution development in Asia Pacific countries.

Harish Kohli, President, and Managing Director, Acer India said, “Under the leadership of Sudhir Goel, Acer India has successfully excelled in an intensely competitive environment and gained substantial impetus in Indian commercial PC market. Sudhir brings in excellent prerequisites to navigate Acer India in a challenging business situation and we are confident that his strategic thinking, experience, and ability to drive people will navigate the organization to even greater success in the future.” 

Commenting on appointment as Chief Business Officer of Acer India Mr. Sudhir Goel said, “I am honored to be appointed Chief Business Officer and excited to lead Acer's Commercial and Consumer business with support from our executive leadership team, as our company shapes the future of our industry. And now with the new normal where we are seeing a paradigm shift in consumer behavior, it is times like these when being effective, innovative and intuitive really makes a difference and I am looking forward to successfully lead both the business groups."

Before joining Acer India, Sudhir started his career in 1985 with DCM Data Products as a Design Engineer and later joined Compaq as National Tech Support Manager for two years. He has done his engineering degree from BITS Pilani and did his MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University. He is fond of reading both fiction and non-fiction and loves to watch movies in his spare time.

PC sales to touch 12.71 million in 2012

The India PC market is expected to see sales (shipments) of 11.15 million units in calendar year 2011. An industry study by market intelligence firm CyberMedia Research expects sales to accelerate further by 14.0% in 2012, leading to sales of 12.71 million units.

The study points out that with nearly 10 million unit sales in 2010, the combined installed base of desktop and notebook personal computers in India is estimated to have crossed 52 million units as of December 31, 2010.

The current installed base of personal computers translates into one computer for every 25 Indians, doubling the per capita PC availability in just four years. It may be recalled that at the end of 2006 there was approximately one computer for every 50 Indians.

"The future growth of the India PC market will be driven by adoption of new form factors such as LED monitors in the commercial desktop space, netbooks, ultra lightweight notebooks and tablet computers in the portable space,” stated Anirban Banerjee, Associate Vice President, Research and Advisory Services, CyberMedia Research.

"These four form factors--desktops, ultra lightweight notebooks, netbooks and tablet computers--will co-exist, leveraging on the increase in reach and penetration of mobile broadband data services, content and 'apps'", Anirban further added.

The first tablet computer was launched in India in November 2010. Since then, the market saw a slew of launches from both MNC and Indian players. While models like Cisco's Cius and RIM’s Blackberry Playbook tablets are focused on the enterprise user segment, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Reliance 3G Tab are focused on the consumer segment. (Reliance 3G Tab manufactured by ZTE, retails at Rs. 12,999 per unit).

CyberMedia Research expects tablets to become the new battleground as major MNC and India vendors and operators race to capture a share of this emerging market.

"As telecom carriers started offering 3G services in India since early 2011, the enhanced connect speeds are expected to boost usage of data services by subscribers. For tablets to become a common man's device, the data usage tariffs for 3G services need to be brought down even further.” Anirban stated.

The first half of 2011 witnessed subdued sales in the India PC market on account of lower off take by the government, public and private sector. Lower consumer demand too added to this.

This situation is expected to correct itself in the July-September 2011 quarter as the new academic year commences witnessing strong demand from the Education sector. Consumer buying is also expected to be higher in the July-December period of 2011 on account of 'festive' season buying. Demand from the domestic large and SMB enterprise segments is expected to remain healthy.

A 'wait-and-watch' buying sentiment may continue in the corporate sector due to the ongoing uncertain economic environment in the US, Europe and Japan.

The other major development with a likely impact on leadership of the PC market was HP's announcement on August 18/19 to spin off its PC business.

"HP's strategic rethink of spinning off its US$ 40 billion Personal Systems Group may be attributed to the rapid commoditisation of the PC business in absence of any major differentiator, in the last few years. While this trend impacted every player in the market, HP's PC division recorded a significantly lower operating margin compared to its other businesses in the year ended July 2011", stated Sumanta Mukherjee, Lead Analyst, Computing Products, IT Peripherals and Channels, CyberMedia Research.

"HP also failed to leverage its $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm in 2010. An unsuccessful attempt to promote devices based on WebOS not only denied HP a leadership position in the smartphones and the tablets markets, it also seems to have underlined the need for a strategic shift. Given this background and the fact that HP is still the global leader in the PC market, the call to spin off its PC business is a bold but necessary step in the right direction. It is likely to yield business benefits in the long run", Sumanta further added.

Impact on India PC Market:

While HP's top global brand status will likely mean 'business as usual' at the moment, the global announcement would definitely play on the minds of local partners. As a result, HP's India partners could adopt a cautious approach, which may not augur well for HP before the impending festive season that typically witnesses the highest consumer PC sales in the year.

"While the spoils can be shared among Acer, Dell, Lenovo and Sony, Dell is better suited to reap the most of this opportunity because of their greater exposure to the consumer space. In the long term, both Microsoft and AMD could be impacted, since HP has been a major partner for both the world's No.1 software company and the No. 2 PC processor vendor. Whatever happens, Personal Computers are unlikely to die out in India in a hurry", concluded Sumanta.

Will HP merge its PC, print divisions?

Hewlett-Packard Co is considering a plan to reorganize the company and combine its printer and personal computer units, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A plan is being finalized that would put Todd Bradley, who leads HP's PC group, in charge of the combined division, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

An HP spokeswoman declined to comment on what she called "rumor and speculation."

PCs made up around 30 percent of HP's revenue in the July quarter, with the printing group accounting for roughly 20 percent.

The printing group boasted an operating margin of 17 percent, making it HP's most profitable division.

For fiscal 2010, HP forecast revenue growth of 3-5 percent in its PC business and zero to 2 percent in its printing group.

HP is the world's No. 1 PC maker, holding a roughly 20 percent share of the global market.

The Journal report said Vyomesh Joshi, a longtime HP veteran who leads the printing division, could potentially leave the company in the coming months.

He has been approached in recent years by other technology companies looking for a new chief executive, the report said, citing people familiar with Joshi's discussions.

Agencies

Major management shake-up at Intel Inc

Intel is expected to reveal a sweeping management change today, said the New York Times attributing to people briefed on the company. This management shake-up will witness its core chip Business Head Patrick Gelsinger leave the company after 30 years.

As Gelsinger departs, Sean Maloney, Intel's Head of Sales and Marketing, would take on an even larger role at the company. Maloney will look after the major chip businesses in Intel including its PC, graphics and server chips.

Also, Maloney, Intel's Sales Chief, is considered to be one of the possible successor to Intel CEO Paul Otellini. Another report from the Wall Street Journal, said 48-year-old Gelsinger would run computer-storage giant EMC's storage-products operations and some smaller software units.

Agencies

17% drop in the semiconductor revenue in 2009

The global semiconductor revenue is on course to total $212 billion in 2009, which is a 17.1 percent decline from 2008 revenue of $255 billion reveals a report. The report by research and analysis firm Gartner says that the projection is better than the second quarter projections of a 22.4 percent decline, which shows signs of recovery in the market.

Some of the major semiconductor vendors have reported positive second quarter sequential revenue growth. Intel posted 12 percent revenue growth, while Samsung announced its revenue increased by 30 percent and Qualcomm reported a 35.7 percent increase in its mobile chip sales. "The semiconductor market has performed better than expected, as was evident when second quarter semiconductor revenue increased 17 percent in sequential sales," said Bryan Lewis, Research Vice President at Gartner.

The increasing demand for products using semiconductor was the key driver behind the growth in the market. "Consumers reacted strongly to reduced PC and LCD TV pricing as price elasticity was amazing. The industry also benefited from the China stimulus package that worked remarkably well to boost short-term demand. Governments worldwide took action quickly and extensively to avoid a meltdown and it worked," added Lewis.

Though, the outlook for 2009 has improved, Gartner also points out that all major segments of the semiconductor market are expected to report double-digit revenue declines this year. The application-specific standard product (ASSP) - the largest segment in the semiconductor market - will touch $57.2 billion in 2009, a decline of 16.5 percent over last year's revenue. The memory market is predicted to total $41 billion with a 13.5 percent decline and the microcomponents segment is forecasted to reach $39.4 billion in 2009, a 19.2 percent decline from 2008.

According to Lewis, foundries are concerned that demand may drop off more than seasonal in the fourth quarter, and it may carry into first quarter 2010. Gartner's most likely scenario is a negative five percent growth in the first quarter of 2010, as customers take a break and absorb all the devices they purchased over the previous three quarters.

Agencies

Nokia likley to enter Netbook market

Nokia, the world's largest maker of cell phones, could be preparing to enter the crowded Netbook market.

According to the Economic Times, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told reporters at a press event Wednesday in India, that "the PC and the mobile will continue to come closer and merge." He said Nokia sees a lot of opportunity in this convergence and he added that the company is "looking at the Netbook market to see what kind of opportunity is there."

It shouldn't come as a big surprise that Nokia might push further into the computing space. The company has been marketing its new smartphone, the N97, as a "mobile computer." And the company has also been selling its mobile Internet devices, or N-series Tablets.

These devices, which are geared toward early adopters and gadget lovers, typically start at around $300 to $400. They don't incorporate a traditional cell phone, but they come with a full QWERTY keypad and access to the Internet via Wi-Fi or through a Bluetooth-connected phone.

Netbooks appeal to a wider audience than mobile Internet devices, which could help Nokia diversify its business. Netbooks, which once were seen as "companion devices" for accessing cloud-based services like Gmail or social-networking sites like Facebook, are now being used as full-blown computers.

Their low cost (around $299) has driven big sales of these devices. About 16 million Netbooks were sold in North America in 2008. And because these devices often use Windows XP, a familiar operating system, most PC users already feel comfortable using them.

Nokia is likely hoping to cash in on Netbooks' popularity.

It's clear that consumers are looking to be more mobile and as carriers around the world build faster 4G wireless networks, demand for mobility will likely increase. What's more, Nokia and other handset makers will soon be facing competition from computer makers in the mobile phone market. Laptop maker Acer has already announced it is developing a smartphone. And there are reports that PC maker Dell is also working on a mobile phone.

Economic Times/Agencies

PC's from ViewSonic now in India

US-based visual display product maker ViewSonic today unveiled its first all-in-one PC for the Indian market at a price tag of Rs 32,000.

The system 'VPC100' is the first of a new line of concept products that the company plans to launch in India. The PC allows users to watch HD movies, browse Internet, play games or view documents with crisp details. It is powered by Intel's 1.6GHz Atom processor, the company said.

ViewSonic Technologies India Country Manager Gautam Ghosh said ViewSonic's PC will be available in India through the company's authorised distributor Redington India at an MRP of Rs 31,999.

The domestic market is flooded with computers with basic features to advanced functions at a price range starting from Rs 8,000 onwards.

Agencies

Has software piracy in India gone up to $2.7 billion?

Global software makers lost an estimated $2.76 billion to illegal software trade in India, a study.

According to a BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study, even as piracy in the country has seen a one point drop to 68 per cent in 2008, it has resulted in loss of billions of dollars for software majors like Adobe, Autodesk and Microsoft globally.

"With the various initiatives taken by the government and the firms, piracy has gone down to 68 per cent and in the coming year also, we expect this to continue as people become more informed about licenced software," BSA Vice-President and Regional Director (Asia-Pacific) Jeffrey J Hardee told reporters afetr releasing the study.

The dollar-rupee fluctuation resulted in the increase in value terms.

Hardee also said the rapidly growing user base for assembled PC units and easy availability of pirated software on the Internet, is a major concern.

However "with software firms offering services to the SMBs and more portable PCs being shipped, piracy should come down," he added.

The study noted a rise in piracy levels globally. While it has gone up to 41 per cent globally from 38 per cent last year, piracy also remains high in the Central and Eastern Europe (66 per cent), Latin America (65 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (61 per cent).
Agencies

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Have computer sales dipped by 12%; As cos cut IT spends

Personal computer (PC) sales in India fell about 11.7% during the first quarter of the calendar year to about 2.1 million units as enterprises slowed down IT spending, according to research firm Gartner.

Both desktop PC and laptop sales declined about 11% during the period, as both large enterprises and small and medium businesses delayed their IT hardware purchases.

“Cost pressure seems to have kept away enterprises from spending on IT hardware during the first quarter of 2009, while there are signs of some turnaround in the consumer sentiment,” Gartner principal analyst Diptarup Chakraborti said.

Hewlett-Packard continued to lead India’s PC market, selling about 300,000 PCs in the quarter. The PC maker, however, saw an year-on-year decline in both desktop and laptop sales during the period. HCL Infosystems (200,000) and Dell (158,000) were ranked second and third, respectively. Acer was ranked fourth.

Gartner said it expects PC sales in India to decline 3.7% year-on-year to 8.98 million units this year. The firm had projected sales of 11 million units for the calendar year in the beginning of January, but the first quarter made it revise its projection downwards.

“Production of desktops and laptops has come to near a halt in manufacturing destinations such as Taiwan,” Mr Chakraborti said. PC makers say they saw some growth in new categories, such as netbooks and higher retail sales, in the first quarter but the good news is limited to the consumer space.

“Large enterprises and small and medium businesses are not buying. The e-government projects are also in a limbo with the Model Code of Conduct in place,” Acer India chief marketing officer S Rajendran said.

With the slowdown in enterprise spending, corporate buyers are expected to account for 69% of total PC sales in 2009, down from 71% last year.

The economic slowdown has resulted in a slump in PC sales across the globe. Worldwide PC shipments declined 6.5% in the first quarter of 2009 to 67.2 million units. As per Gartner, the decline could have been steeper but for low-priced laptops such as netbooks.

Agencies

A new class of PC Netbooks 2.0 on the way

A new class of cheaper, smaller netbook computers might upset the IT establishment this year and potentially usher in new players in a hotly competitive market.

The biggest change in the new pint-sized laptops is what they won't have: Intel Corp chips or a Microsoft Corp Windows PC operating system, which dominate netbooks today.

The new netbooks, which use less energy, will run on the low-power ARM processor platform now used in nine out of 10 mobile phones, rather than Intel's x86-based Atom chip. The UK-based ARM Holdings Plc licenses the chip technology.

As many as 10 ARM-based netbook models could hit the market this year, according to ARM, which declined to identify specific manufacturers. Major PC players and Asian contract manufacturers alike are interested, analysts say.

Enderle Group analyst Rob Enderle called the new netbooks "incredibly disruptive," saying: "This is a market that puts the existing PC structure at risk."

While analysts say it's not yet clear if consumers will embrace the ARM devices, interest has been galvanized by the emphasis on power efficiency, prices as low as $200 and the promise of anywhere, anytime computing on PCs small enough to slip into a purse.

What's sacrificed is users' familiarity with PC-based interfaces and systems and sheer processing power. The current $300-$400 Atom netbooks are already mainly good for just surfing the Web and less graphics-intensive applications.

"We're right in the middle of a huge shift in the market," said Eric Openshaw, U.S. technology leader for Deloitte LLP.

Openshaw said non-Windows netbooks will need to demonstrate a simple and accessible user interface at the application level if they hope to gain traction with consumers.

Windows XP can't run on ARM, so the new netbooks will have Linux-based software, including, analysts and industry executives say, Google Inc Android, which has been used so far in smartphones.

But don't count Microsoft out just yet. Although the software giant declined to comment when asked if it is planning an operating system for the new netbooks, analysts say it could easily enter the market if it chose.

Intel pointed out there are as yet no ARM netbooks on the market and that its Atom chip has a full year's head start.

"We're not slowing down, we fully expect competition and we continue to believe that Atom is the right choice for our customers and consumer," said spokesman Bill Calder.

NEXT WAVE

The still-evolving netbook market is growing thick with players from all over the tech sector. Wireless carriers such as AT&T Inc are helping lead the charge, while graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp, wireless chipmaker Qualcomm Inc and Freescale Semiconductor Inc have all designed ARM-based processors that can be used in netbooks.

The netbook phenomenon took off in 2008 to the tune of 11.7 million units, led by companies such as Acer Inc and Asustek Computer Inc that were quick into the market. Nearly every PC vendor offers an Intel Atom-based netbook, including Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc.

Analysts forecast 20 million to 30 million netbooks will be sold this year, making up an ever larger part of overall laptop sales and marking one of few tech sectors still experiencing robust revenue growth.

"It's definitely going to be a different sort of device than today's netbooks," said Phil Solis of ABI Research, who expects ARM netbooks to make up 15 percent of the overall netbook market in 2010.

IDC analyst Richard Shim said the first wave of netbooks brought a PC feel to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones. ARM netbooks, he said, represent a push from the opposite direction.

"The smartphones are now moving up," he added.

It is widely expected that the Computex trade fair in Taiwan in June will see a number of announcements about ARM-based netbooks. With less expensive ARM chips and free or very cheap operating systems, the netbooks could sell for even less than $200 if, as expected, wireless carriers subsidize purchases bundled with a data plan.

Tech blogs were recently buzzing about a prototype netbook built by Taiwan contract laptop maker Wistron Corp shown at the recent CTIA show in Las Vegas. The device was based on Qualcomm's ARM-based Snapdragon platform.


Agencies

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Is Apple developing a touchscreen PC?

Apple will take third-quarter delivery of newly developed 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan, a source said on Wednesday, amid talk the US firm is developing a touchscreen PC.

Taiwan touchscreen specialist Wintek already makes small screens for Apple iPhones, and has received orders for the larger ones that are roughly the same size as those used in mini PCs, said the source close to the Taiwan firm. He asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

He added that he did not know what the final product would be, or who would make it.

Wintek spokesman James Chen confirmed Apple was a major client of his company, but declined to comment on any new product development.

Taiwan media reported this week that Apple, which has brought touchscreens to the forefront with the success of its iPhones, is currently developing a touchscreen PC, as lines begin to blur between sophisticated smartphones and traditional PCs.

Some of those reports have said that Taiwan's Quanta Computer, the world's top contract laptop PC maker, would manufacture the actual PCs for Apple.

Apple's Hong Kong spokeswoman, Jill Tan, said the company did not comment on market speculation, while a Quanta spokeswoman also declined to comment.

Agencies

Is Nokia likely to enter laptop industry?

The world's top cellphone maker Nokia is eyeing entering the laptop business, its Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in an interview to Finnish national broadcaster YLE on Wednesday.

"We are looking very actively also at this opportunity," Kallasvuo said, when asked whether Nokia plans to make laptops.

Industry has rumoured about Nokia's possible plan to enter the PC industry since late last year, but Kallasvuo's comment was the first official admittance of such plans.

"We don't have to look even for five years from now to see that what we know as a cellphone and what we know as a PC are in many ways converging," Kallasvuo said.

"Today we have hundreds of millions of people who are having their first Internet experience on the phone. This is a good indication," he said.

Nokia's comments come a week after No 3 PC brand Acer launched a foray into the phone business with eight cellphone models, joining leader Hewlett-Packard and No. 4 Lenovo in the high-growth space.

While strong profit margins in the smartphone industry attract PC brands, the attraction of the low-margin computer industry is less obvious.

"Nokia maybe nervous about entering a market segment that is already heavily commoditised, but it would be in a position to exploit its enormous scale in manufacturing, supply chain and distribution," said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight.

"All leading mobile network operators and retailers are adding connected notebooks and netbooks to their portfolios alongside mobile phones. On this basis it comes as no surprise that Nokia is evaluating this segment," he said.

The global PC industry was resilient for most of last year when other technology sectors were ailing, but it too has now been caught up in the deepening economic downturn that has hit demand from consumers and corporate buyers.

Agencies

IBM, Harvard want your PC for solar power study

Scientists at Harvard University and IBM are hoping to harness the power of a million idle computers to develop a new, cheaper form of solar power that could revolutionize the green energy world.

Researchers have launched the project using IBM's World Community Grid, which taps into volunteers' computers across the globe to run calculations on a myriad of compounds - potentially shortening a project that could take 22 years to just two years.

Harvard scientists are hoping the project will allow it to discover a combination of organic materials that can be used to manufacture plastic solar cells that are cheaper and more flexible than the silicon-based ones typically used to turn sunlight into electricity.

The technology could be used to coat windows, make backpacks or line blankets to produce electricity from the sun's rays. Technology to make the plastic cells already exists, but they are not yet efficient enough to be rolled out in commercial products.

"It is not now cost efficient, although the materials are cheap because it's plastic," said Alan Aspuru-Guzik, a chemistry researcher at Harvard University. The most efficient silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells convert about 20 percent of the sunlight that strikes them into electricity.

For now, the organic cells can turn only about 5 percent of the sunlight into power - half the level needed to make the low-cost cells a viable energy source. The researchers plan to publish results of the work once they have discovered a possible combination of compounds.

IBM developed its World Community Grid to advance research of humanitarian projects, such as fighting cancer, dengue fever and AIDS. The grid connects computers in homes or offices via the Internet with program on each machine to run calculations that feed back to the database.

"It's a way for people that have computers to do some good for the world," said IBM engineer Joe Jasinski. With more than a million volunteers currently linked to the World Community Grid, IBM said it had created a network with a massive calculating capability that would rank it among the top 10 most powerful supercomputers in the world.

Members of the grid download software to their personal computers that run the calculations as a screensaver program on the machine when it is turned on but not in use. IBM includes security software to protect the participants' computers. Such virtual networks are also in place to crunch data for other projects, such as SETI's effort to sift through radio telescope signals for signs of extraterrestrial life in the universe.

Source: Reuters

Now video and voice chat on Gmail

Gmail and Google App subscribers can now speak with friends on a video screen and simultaneously instant message them in a Google Chat box. Google Inc added a voice and video chat feature to its Gmail email service on Tuesday, launching a free Web-based service that competes with the likes of eBay's Skype. Gmail and Google App subscribers can now choose to speak with friends on a video screen and simultaneously instant message them in a Google Chat box.

The video screen can be popped out of the chat box and moved around a user's computer screen. Users can also change the size of the screen and expand it to full-screen size.

"The idea was to make it quicker and easier to communicate with other people by whatever means is best convenient," said Google spokesman Jason Freidenfelds.

"It's a nice alternative for businesses looking for another way for people to connect," he added.
The feature is available for both PC and Apple computer users.

A webcam and small web browser plug-in are required to use the video chat. Users who do not have a webcam will still be able to chat with friends by voice.