Dell and VMware Looking For Sustainable Growth in South Asia

South Asia is a booming market, and with the US seemingly tumbling into a deep, long-term recession, it’s no surprise to see a lot of companies aiming for growth in both market share & revenue in the Far East.

 

VMware is investing $ 100 million by 2010 to expand its Bangalore, India-based research and development (R&D) operations, as announced today by VMware president and CEO Diane Greene at a news conference in Bangalore. VMware already has a strong presence across India with offices in Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai.

VMware plans a brand new, state-of-the-art 82,000 square foot development center in Bangalore (including a 4,000 square foot computer lab) and aims to double its India-based engineering organization to more than 1,000 people in the next two years.

Meanwhile, Dell is also readying itself for a decline in sales from the US, historically its most prolific revenue base. Since its Chinese consumer sales last year were up 54 %, three times the industry average, Dell plants to cultivate this new audience and feed the retail stores. Dell India plans to launch low-cost desktop and notebook computers that are customized for India in the second week of April.

“Today we are a $700 million business in India,” Dell India Vice President and General Manager Rajan Anandan said at a news conference. He added the company will soon announce plans to establish retail operations in the country. In India, Dell follows its traditional model of selling computers over the Internet or by telephone. “At present, we are not into retail operations in India, but that’s going to change,” Mr. Anandan said.

Dell has two factories in China and a design center in Shanghai and it’s planning on increasing the amount of components it buys in China by 27 % this year to $ 23 billion. The company is also reportedly planning on increasing the number of laptop models it produces by 50 %.