Kochi: Getting smarter

Formerly known as Cochin, Kochi is a vibrant city situated on the south-west coast of the Indian peninsula in the prosperous and breathtakingly scenic state of Kerala. Informally, Kochi is also referred to as the ‘Gateway to Kerala'. Kochi is perhaps the second most important city on the West coast of India after Mumbai and boasts of world class ports and an international airport, that links it to many major cities worldwide.

Kochi is home to many large and medium scale industries, making it the commercial capital of Kerala. The Cochin Stock Exchange is the only stock exchange present in Kerala. The IT and ITeS related industries are rapidly growing in Kochi. Various technology and industrial campuses including the government promoted InfoPark, Cochin Special Economic Zone and KINFRA Export Promotion Industrial Park operate in the outskirts of the city. Several new industrial campuses are under construction in the suburbs of the city. ‘SmartCity' at Kakkanad is a prominent project under proposal; and ‘Cyber City' at Kalamassery, an integrated IT township, are being built in the city.

Amidst all the positivity, the dealers of the city claim that the last two months have seen a downward trend in the business. Paulos K George, CEO, Aces Business Machines said that the market has remained slow and dull with no new trend coming up. Thomas Paul, CEO, Texas IT Solutions said in concurrence, "The market was dull since the last two months. We experienced a 30 percent decline in business." Talking about the vend or dealer relationship, both George and Paul seemed to have the same opinion and said that they do not have any issue with their respective vendors. Dell, Toshiba and Acer are the top selling brands in the city while laptop is the most sought-after product. Talking about the future trend, both Paul and George optimistically said that the market is bound to improve and tread uphill in the times to come.

Market Name: Kochi

Market Location: Kerala

Surrounding Markets: Thiruvananthapuram, Salem, Coimbatore

Computer Association: All Kerala IT Dealers Association (AKITDA)

Prominent Dealers: Accent Netware, Aces Business Machines, Alltime Power Technologies, Compumobiles, Euro Agencies, Focuz Computers, International Marketing Company, Nortech Infonet, Positive Systems, Radha Electronics, Texas IT Solutions, Zenicon Group

Business Verticals: Retail, SME, corporate

Interview:

Dunston L Noronha, CEO, Compumobiles

Do you have any computer association in Kochi? How active is it in solving your problem?

Yes, we have All Kerala IT Dealers Association (AKITDA) functioning in the region. It is very active and regular in its duties and solves all our problem.

What are the growth Verticals in Kochi?

SME and corporate are the primary growth vertical in Kochi

What are your market predictions for this year?

I expect a positive change in the coming times. The government is coming up with an IT park in the region named 'smart city'. It will usher in great opportunities for the IT industry.