It’s the time for retrospect and intent consideration.
p____p A volatile year, 2003 witnessed most technology companies looking ahead to start with new hope after the debacle of the dream-gone-sour dot-com bust and the subsequent crashes that plunged the market into gloom. Come 2004, the hope still remains, and how!
p____p With added vigor, vendors and the channel alike have set its fingers on the pulse of the fervor and things-yet-to-come.
p____p Looking back at how things were, we hope that year 2004 will usher in a fresh breath for the channel. Cleaner business practices, better margins and profitability, newer products to boost sales, wider acceptance and a spurt in the buying power of the consumer certainly seems Utopian. However, all that’s said will not remain just a dream.
p____p As the past gives way to the future, it will be exciting to note what lies ahead. For one, increasing interest of vendors planning to venture into the manufacturing arena will see plenty of action in the hardware scenario. While newer entrants like Videocon contemplate entering the PC manufacturing business, other Indian counterparts seem set to build the competition against multinationals.
p____p Most global research agencies predict that as technology spending will rise again, the recovery that will be evident will be of a divergent trend. Even though the lethargic corporate spending on technology will slowly show signs of an increase, the surge in consumer spending on newer technology will continue to mount. And as the Indian economy continues to boom, and the process of outsourcing manufacturing and services accelerates, one can only hope that the potential that the Indian market holds is finally on its way to being realized in a big way.
p____p Year 2003 saw the deeper penetration of networks, smaller and more multi-faceted gadgets, VoIP, the rise of Wi-Fi revolution, AMD’s 64-bit computing on the desktop, etc. And as PC vendors see that its future lies in the hands of its consumers, the PC market is finally showing signs of life, and life in amplitude. While most businesses hope for better growth and progress, first on my wish list is the death of piracy in all. With the use of open-source software hopefully computing will be made more affordable legally, and not via piracy.