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Hardware industry trudges on

This achievement is significant in an otherwise "not so encouraging economic environment'', according to the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology.

T O D A Y

• Dell upgrades in India • E-commerce survey • Hardware trudges on • One year at the ministry

While UPS at 86,424 units, registered an astounding growth rate of 92 per cent for the period April-September 1998, notebooks at 8,474 units saw negative growth at -26 per cent.

Though domestic brands have managed to make inroads into the household sector, the unorganised sector, comprising largely of grey marketers, continues to rule strongly, accounting for 48 per cent in the case of business establishments and 44 per cent in the household sector.

As against 319,000 desktop computers sold in April-September 1997, 457,000 units were sold in the same period in the current financial year, a 43 per cent increase.

The number of servers sold, at 15,034, represented an increase of 47 per cent.

Printers sold during the period, at 194,769 units, comprised an increase of 26 per cent over the corresponding period the previous year.

The four metros accounted for 70 per cent of the desktop sales. PC penetration per 1,000 units went up to 2.3 in 1998-99 (half year) from 1.8 in 1997-98 (full year).

But with excise duty and duties on components going up, whether the industry will manage to keep up the growth pace remains to be seen, say industry observers.

Further, the increase in excise duty has come as a shot in the arm for grey marketers as they have now become extremely price competitive, the analysts said.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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