Computer processors manufacturer Intel said it will push its channel partners as hard drive costs and foreign exchange fluctuation have impacted a lot of channel players in India from growth.
“We did not see much growth of channel business in India as compared to some other parts of the world as hard drives struck much harder in India than some of the other markets,” Steve Dallman, Vice-President - Sales and Marketing Group, Intel, told Business Line .
However, the company has some programmes in place to get the market growing, he said, adding that there are bunch of entrepreneurs who are trying to figure out how to build this business bigger.
He said the company is helping them along with some of its key programmes that will help growth moving into third and fourth quarters like what distributors can do so that there are more inventories in place.
“We are going to rescrub everything – lot of growth programmes are being put into place for India because its one of the biggest markets. We have started that four years ago, making some basic assumptions and now we are going through those assumptions because market has changed a lot in four years,” he said.
Apart from international manufacturers, Intel will also work with domestic companies such as HCL Infosystems and Wipro to help them collaborate with the company.
“We may start a local ‘original equipment manufacturer starter programme’ in the companies that have good ideas for go-to-market segments like the ‘all-in-one’ computers and servers. We will get them started with training and support,” Dallman said.
Another area is called PC like embedded – taking PC components, moving them into embedded markets such as digital signage where there is margin opportunity for its partners through the Intel Architecture programme, he said, adding that there are thousands of such opportunities in the market.
“We see some exciting time coming back for desktops and lot of markets globally are growing in desktops. Usage model is changing as some people still want larger machines for work apart from mobile devices,” he added.