The Information Technology industry in God’s own country, Kerala is mainly concentrated in Kochi, Trivandrum, and Kozhikode. It has three state-of-the-art IT hubs namely, Technopark in Trivandrum, Infopark, Kochi and Cyberpark, Kozhikode which is a landmark of employment opportunities to the people of the state.
Boasting to have one of the greenest IT workspaces in the world. Kerala has direct operations of IT/ITes companies such as Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, TCS, Nissan, Oracle, IBS, and many others. The state is also a goldmine of the talent pool. Today, Kerala has seen the setting of Centres of Excellence in emerging technologies like IoT, Blockchain, AI, Cyber Security, Space Tech, and MedTech that are thriving as a digital hub.
Talking about startups, the state plans to set up 15,000 new startups by 2026, as commented by Kerala Chief Minister Pinrayi Vijayan. Also, the Digital Hub, at Kochi set up by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) will act as an innovation center for various technology sectors and for bolstering the startup ecosystem in Kerala.
CRN India speaks to the local IT partners to understand the prevailing situation in the pandemic and finds that the local IT market dealers and retailers are facing an acute shortage of raw materials and finished electronic goods. Due to the disruption in the supply of goods, the pricing of IT products has either skyrocketed or hit the rock bottom. Some of the IT dealers are struggling to sell the products at the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).
According to Adimurugan Vengopalan, Proprietor, AVM Computers, based in Kanyakumari, “As the students and office workforce switched to online mode. There is a big change in the home segment category. The demand for low-cost entry-level laptops has gained momentum, but the chip shortage is creating a demand and supply gap. Even more, the refurbished market has witnessed a big boost in the first wave of pandemic and is continuing ever since. The entry-level laptops worth Rs 20,000 are getting strong demand from small towns and districts, in spite of the shortage of supplies.”
Seconding the views shared by Vengopalan, Vinod Markose, President, All Kerala IT Dealers Association (AKITDA) in Kottayam said, “Large Format Retail chains have started playing in our state. And the small IT dealers, resellers, and retailers are suffering to get raw materials and have to face huge price competition. The prices of desktop and monitors have gone up by 50%.”
Another partner from Ernakulam, Mr Dileep, General Secretary, AKITDA added “The present IT products demand is more and supply is very less. Some of the distributors and vendors are disturbing the market situation and creating unwanted demand.”
