Though the IT industry is witnessing slow growth, but there lies a huge potential in the market. Personal Computer (PC) is the core thing around which networking, software, peripherals, etc revolves. But the penetration level of PC is very low which opens a wide market for Compuage Infocom and acts as a huge potential.
“For the last two-and-a-half years, the growth of IT industry has been a little slow, but the potential is immense because the penetration level is quite low in the country. Rather than looking backward, we should look forward to the potential that exists in the industry and in the marketplace. So, I feel that the next five or 10 years should be really promising. Everything starts with Personal Computer (PC), then comes peripherals, networking products, software, etc, but everything revolves around PC which includes laptops and desktops. From that perspective, the PC penetration level is low. It is low by a double digit. Last year, our PC sales were in the region of 10 million. There is no doubt that the trend is changing, there are more options of tablets and smartphones are available. But there are a lot of things that a PC can do. It is required for several applications. From that viewpoint, the number of 10 million PCs for 1.2 billion population of India is very low. That itself is a huge opportunity in the market,†asserts Atul Mehta, Chairman & Managing Director, Compuage Infocom.
[In a chat with VARINDIA, Atul Mehta, Chairman & MD, Compuage Infocom, has discussed about the low penetration of PCs, focus area in the last financial year, future plans and the success mantra]
Business in last two years In FY 2015-16, due to deeper penetration in the market and optimization of opportunities Compuage has witnessed a growth of 31 per cent y-o-y. The company has concentrated in its mobility and Enterprise business segment which has earned numbers.
“Business in the year 2014-15 is flatter for us primarily because of some realignment of our business. But 2015-16 is a very good year and it has grown by 31 per cent. The growth is because we have penetrated the market deeply and we have a lot of product lines where we have optimized the opportunities. One of our product lines is mobility which was very low previously, but our revenue has grown in this segment. Secondly, we have started covering B-, C-, D-, E-class cities at much more depth where more growth was happening than the bigger cities. The third is we grew in the Enterprise space. So these are the three areas that help us grew 31 per cent y-o-y.â€
We went aggressive in Enterprise products such as networking, software and security. In mobility, it is smartphones where we grew our business with our existing vendors. We also see a good potential in security business and are focussed on it. It is one of the fastest-growing areas in the industry,†explains Mehta.
Future Plans Compuage is currently working with more than 10,000 partners and operates from its 41 offices across the country.
“We are working with above 10,000 partners across the country through our 41 offices, 45 warehouses and 51 service centres. We are very broad-based distributor. We have products like components, peripherals, PCs and also have enterprise products like networking, software, etc. We wanted to go broadly in the marketplace mapping the entire market,†describes Mehta.
Talking about the future plans, he revealed that by FY 19 Compuage is aiming to achieve Rs.7,000 crore and in FY 2016-17 it is looking forward to reach the target of Rs.4,000 crore. It also wants to increase the number of partners to 15,000.
“Our plans is to achieve Rs.7,000 crore of revenue through sales representation in 100 cities. Currently, we are covering 55 cities where we have sales representatives. The turnover in FY 2014-15 was approximately Rs.2,400 crore and FY 2015-16 Rs.3,100 crore. In FY 2016-17, we are working with a plan of approximately Rs.4,000 crore which is 25 per cent. Our aim of achieving Rs.4,000 crore is ambitious but possible. We have to grow 30 per cent year over year.
We also want to expand our partner base to 15,000 and also cover resellers in 1,000 cities,†adds Mehta. Success Mantra
Compuage follows the key mantra of Speed, Reliability and Value Performance which have taken the company to the doorsteps of success in this industry. Mehta also believes that these three aspects will further take Compage to the next level of success.
“Speed, Reliability and Value Performance are the key mantra of our success. We have to be fast. By reliability, we mean the vendors and partners must have trust in us about our ability and value performance is very important because we have to differentiate us from others in the market. These three factors will take us to the next level that is Rs.7,000 crore. What we have accomplished in the last 29 years, we are going to accomplish in the next 29 months,†concludes Mehta.
