SMB workforce grows mobile, boosts notebook sales

Bangalore: Last month, Dell had introduced two notebooks aimed at Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). It is not only Dell, but players like IBM, HP and Lenovo are leaving no stones unturned in their attempt to design and sell SMB-specific notebooks. The idea behind these companies' adamant obsession with notebooks is to cater to the fast growing mobile workforce in the SMB segment.

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A huge number of SMB workforce travel frequently for business needs. They need to stay connected to the world even while on the move to keep up with the pace of the corporate world.

A study by AMI-Partners said that the mobile workforce is growing fast among India's small and midsize businesses (SMBs). This work force is increasingly dependent on portable PCs and mobile phones as vital tools. The study found that 43 percent of PC-owning SMBs in India have a mobile workforce, compared to only 22 percent in 2006. This encompasses employees who have to travel on business for a minimum of four days per month.

Sameer Garde, GM, Dell India says, "Mobility is an import factor that prompts SMBs to shift to notebooks from desktops on a large scale. As the world is fast becoming a global village, people need to keep themselves connected to their partners and peers form any part of the earth. Since traveling accounts to a great amount of the executives' schedule, it is only the mobile devices that can help them do business on the move."

In April this year, a report released by MAIT, a body representing India's IT hardware, said that IT consumption in 2007-08 was led by significant growth in notebook sales, which grew by 114 percent, while purchases of desktop units grew by only a percentage. Reports say that this growth is significantly prompted by SMBs buying notebooks in bulks. "Today, notebooks account for a quarter of the total PC market in the country, up from less than three per cent four years ago. With shifting consumer-preference in favor of notebooks over the desktop, this proportion will only get larger with time," MAIT Executive Director, Vinnie Mehta had said.