The question that is uppermost in everybody’s mind is that, notwithstanding the world-class economists assisting the government in formulating economic policy, we have not been able to manage the monetary policy in terms of not adding to the country’s dollar reserve. The roller-coaster ride of the rupee continues. It seems that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, the weakening Rupee is the biggest challenge for the Government as the currency volatility injects uncertainty in business planning and execution. Needless to say, the Indian IT industry will have its share of woes if the volatility persists.
Turing to the latest in the IT hardware industry, smartphones, tablets and hybrid laptops are fast becoming the preferred choice of the world. It is no surprise that worldwide PC shipments have taken a beating. However, it cannot be denied that PCs are the natural selection for companies because many business applications run better on PCs. And, there are certainly advantages like the bigger screens, physical keyboards and mice. Added to this, desktop PCs come with a longer life and the security and performance are better than other devices to address the business criticality.
It can be said with certainty that Tablets won't replace PCs. There is no doubt that many employees do use tablets for work, and more and more companies are now reconciled to the idea of allowing them to do so as part of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. But tablets and hybrid laptops aren't replacing desktops. At best, they are supplemental. According to MAIT, in India the year 2012-13 has been the year for Tablet PC with consumers preferring Tablet over PC as their replacement. The overall growth of the tablet industry is impressive. However, the decline in the growth of PC is a matter of concern which is growing by only 5%.
As is only to be expected, the overall IT hardware industry scenario is not so bright. Most of the markets have posted either a muted growth or decline.
The good news is that India is now set to get its first chip-making facility with IBM and STMicroelectronics with an investment of over Rs.50,000 crore. It has been reported that both would initially invest over Rs.25,000 crore each.
Last but not the least, the security issue should be addressed on a war footing. According to the recent announcement in the National Cyber Security Policy 2013, India is unlikely to meet the target of creating a workforce of 5,00,000 cybersecurity professionals in the next five years. It also proposes to provide fiscal benefits to businesses to adopt best security practices and the government would also set up testing labs to regularly check the safety of equipment being used in the country. This will result in great scope in the business of ICT.
As we celebrate the 67th Independence Day, it is time to rejoice as well as reflect upon.
