Mar 26, 2008 at 12:54 AM
All those who want to buy Dell products in shops can now rejoice
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Dell Starts PC Retail Sales in India With Croma Chain
By Chitra Somayaji
March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Inc., the world's second- largest maker of personal computers, plans to sell PCs through retail outlets in India for the first time after forging a partnership with Tata Group's Croma chain of stores.
Dell's laptop and desktop computers will initially be available at some Croma stores in Mumbai next month, the Round Rock, Texas-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.
The agreement builds on Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell's campaign to challenge Hewlett-Packard Co. in stores, abandoning a practice of only taking orders via the phone or Internet. Dell, which plans to generate half its sales overseas by 2009, began selling products through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in June and has since reached agreements in Japan, Europe and China.
Dell's India revenue jumped 60 percent to $700 million last year, outpacing growth in the U.S., Rajan Anandan, vice president of Dell India, said yesterday. Sales in the country may climb to almost $1 billion in the year ending Feb. 1, helping Asian growth offset the effects of an expected slowdown in the U.S., Steve Felice, the company's Asia president, said in February.
Dell rose 3 cents to $20.59 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 9:46 a.m. The shares had fallen 16 percent this year before today.
The company will start selling low-cost models in India starting next month, Anandan said yesterday, without providing details.
Higher salaries in India, the world's second-fastest growing major economy, are boosting PC purchases. Human resources consultant Hewitt Associates Inc. forecast wages in India will rise 15 percent this year, the most worldwide.
The Croma chain of consumer-electronics stores, owned and operated by a division of Tata Sons Ltd., has 17 outlets in six cities, according to its Web site. The Tata Group includes India's largest computer-services provider and the nation's biggest truckmaker.
Dell now also offers its products through Gome Electrical Appliance Holdings Ltd. in China, Carrefour SA in Europe, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, and Carphone Warehouse Group Plc in the U.K.
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