CALICUT: Stagnant IT Market

Calicut, also known as Kozhikode, is one of the major cities in the state of Kerala in south India. It is also the HQ of Kozhikode district on the Malabar Coast. It is known as the 'city of spices'. According to data compiled by economics research firm, Indicus Analytics on residences, earnings and investments, Kozhikode is ranked as the 2nd best city in India to reside in. It was ranked 11th among tier-2 Indian cities in job creation by a study conducted by Assocham. Calicut is also known as second Mecca of football lovers in the country (after Kolkata). Calicutl is home to two premier educational institutions of national importance, viz, the Indian Institute of Management and the National Institute of Technology.

The current conditions of the Calicut IT market can be comfortably stated to be stagnant. Zainuddin, CEO, Matrix Infotech said, "The market is in a volatile state. There is total uncertainty in business pattern-sometimes in a week, there is good sales while in another it becomes difficult to push products. These days, every day is different and so it becomes really difficult to plan anything."

Some of the brands that are doing good business in laptop segment are HP, Sony, Toshiba, Acer. As far as desktops are concerned, Compaq, Lenovo and Acer are much in demand. When it comes to peripherals, HP all-in-one printers and Seagate HDDs are generating much desired moolah. Dealers/distributors are of the opinion that assembled desktops are sold more, it is because of the fact that customers, these days, are getting more price conscious.

This Christmas and new-year period has not brought any smile on their faces as compared to the peak season around the Onam festival. Dealers said that during the August-September period, business gets doubled or even tripled.

The Calicut IT market has Malabar IT Dealer's Association (MITDA) for the welfare of dealers and distributors. They are of the opinion that the association is doing good work. Zainuddin added, "MITDA is helping channel partners in ways more than one. Once, there were some issues with Samsung HDDs, which the company distributed through national distributor SES Technologies. Some time later, SES Technologies shut down their shop. They have promised a 5-year warranty with the HDDs. When this issue was taken up with the association, they ensured that Samsung did not back track their decision."

Interview: Zainuddin, CEO, Matrix Infotech

What are the top-selling IT brands in the Calicut IT market?

HP, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba and Dell.

Which business verticals do you serve?

We are mostly into SOHO and SMB.

Is there any IT association working at the local level?

Yes, we have MITDA to help us.

Which IT peripherals are more in demand?

Seagate HDDs and HP all-in-one printers are generating good revenue for us.