The Age of Low Cost

 

NEW SCHOOL: A classroom at NIIT Delhi, where students carry netbooks, not textbooks. NIIT has migrated the entire courseware for its three-year technology training programme, GNIIT, to netbooks. NIIT will discontinue textbooks and offer all its courses on tablets and netbooks. 

 

The first wave of low cost computers never really took off. Now, a new bunch of such devices are flooding the market. This time a lot of new applications, software, content and delivery methods are enabling consumers to do what they earlier couldn’t – put the devices to good use for education and livelihood, writes Shelley Singh

Apuroop Sethupathy is now quite used to juggling between the HP Laptop in his bag, the iPad in his hand and an Android smart phone in his p.ocket. The 19-year old sophomore at the National Institute of Technology in Rourkela pursuing biomedical engineering uses the three gadgets for studying, entertainment and connecting with the world. They pretty much meet his needs. Yet, he's visibly excited about the 1,750 tablet, recently launched by the government and the slew of new computing devices Asus, Samsung, HCL, Reliance and others have rolled out in the last two months. Almost all of them are available around the 10,000 price point. "They are good for a web based lifestyle," he says. Sonali Garg, 19, a Chandigarh based Commerce student who shares a laptop with two other siblings is also eyeing these new devices. "We can buy tablets with saved up pocket money," she says. At far away Agartala, 20-year-old Bishnesh Das fancies them too. "These gadgets will do to computing what sub 3,000 phones did to mobile communications," he says. Similar attempts at building low cost computers undertaken about five to seven years ago flopped here. Remember India's own Simputer? Or Nicholoas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project? Intel, the world's largest chipmaker flew in anthropologists to create a device that's not only light on the pocket, but rugged enough to be used in the hinterland. In 2005 AMD joined hands with HCL to launch a 10,000 PC. The devices were low on cost and high on promise, but they failed to get buyers. The devices were minimalistic (low on memory, hard disk, RAM, processing speeds) and didn't offer internet connectivity. They failed. So why should things be any different this time around? Seven years later, the devices available now come with better technology and performance. Not only are they lowcost, but they also offer more value for every rupee paid. But more than that, what's changed the equation now is a whole bunch of new applications, software, content and delivery methods that are now enabling consumers to do what they earlier couldn't - put the devices to good use for education, livelihood and entertainment. It took the country three decades after the first PC was launched to get to an installed base of about 50 million computers. The next 50 million devices could get added in only 3-4 years if the new wave of applications and content marry well with the new low-cost devices. Even then, India with a base of 50 million personal computers now would lag behind China (300 million) and the US (394 million). There is still plenty for room to grow.
 

THE APPLICATIONS WAVE Netbooks for text books - that's the switch technology training company NIIT has done in the last six months for all students in its premier GNIIT course. In the next six months it will migrate all its courseware onto netbooks and tablets. "Students won't carry books, but tablets to class," says Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT. NIIT has also invested 200 man-years of work generating digital content for the curriculum for classes 4 to 12. Says Thadani: "The devices add richness to static content. For instance, Rani Ki Jhansi can come alive on tablets via video. Graphs will be more dynamic. There's a tremendous opportunity to create a revolution with tablets." NIIT courseware is available in 14 languages. Educomp, another education services provider, also plans to migrate course content to tablets. About 500 people are working on converting its content into digital formats. It already uses a combination of projectors and electronic white boards to deliver classes in 7,200 schools across the country. "Now, we will give each student a tablet," says Shantanu Prakash, founder-CEO, Educomp Solutions. School students, even from poorer sections, could be big consumers of low-cost tablets. The government is offering DataWind's Aakash, a 7-inch tablet, to students at a subsidised price of 1,750. "Specs of Aakash look ok for use by students," says Prakash. Subho Ray, president, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) says that the device will catalyse the market if it finds its way into 5-6 lakh schools. "There was a vision earlier, but low cost computers were never given away to target communities. At least now the government is giving away the tablets to students to try out," he says. Its not just schools, but tablets could make a difference to India's farm lands too. S Sivakumar, chief executive, agri business, says crop management advice can be personalized to individual farmers, if they can video or photo shoot the field conditions and transmit to experts via tablets. "Through use of video/photo transmission, price negotiation process can be instant and more effective. Order aggregation for farm inputs will help in streamlining logistics and reduce costs," he adds. Mass adoption, says Tuli of Datawind, will happen when such devices help users generate business. "Today a phone is a commerce tool for all segments of users. Same will happen with computers. When mobile phones hit the market no one thought your neighbourhood small merchant or a rickshaw puller will buy them. Today they all do."
 

LOW COST GAME More applications and content will make low-cost computing more relevant to consumers. But cost is crucial too. Many expect Mukesh Ambani to be a game changer. ET recently reported that Reliance Industries will unveil a new range of 4G-enabled tablets at 3,000. Such a price point would have been ridiculously low even one year ago. But prices of components like the hard disk, RAM etc have come down enabling manufacturers to come out with innovative offerings. Says NIIT's Thadani: "The real breakthrough has come from Moore's Law: processor power doubles every 18 months and costs come down. There's more power packed in each new generation of computers." Alok Bharadwaj, the president of , Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT) attributes low cost computers to economies of scale and an average decline of 15% a year in component prices. Adds Apratim Sharma, country product manager, Asus India: "We observe 15-20% yearly drop in cost of same hardware'. You can get a hard disk that went into high end laptops 2-3 years back at lower costs in netbooks or tablets now, he adds. Asus just launched a 10 inch net book at 9,999 with a 250 GB hard disk, 1GB RAM, web cam, WiFi and Bluetooth. "Three years ago a similar device would have cost double," he adds. NIIT's Thadani still remembers the first PC they bought back in the 1990s. It cost 1.5 lakh. It had 10 MB hard disk and 5 MB RAM. "Now, you get a far more richer device for less than 10,000," he adds. Last week HCL Infosystems launched a 10,490 tablet complete with a touch screen, 1 Ghz processor, 2 MP camera and 512 MB storage. Says Harsh Chitale, its CEO: "Now, with more value at lower costs computing in India will take off in the next 12-18 months. Tablets could do to computing what sub- 5,000 phones did to telecom." Computer penetration in India is very low and tablets account for just 2% of PC sales. "Once you have a device priced at six to eight weeks of annual income, computer adoption will take off," says Prashanth Adiraju, director, new platform business group, Intel Technology India. "We are at that stage now." He believes that 90 million households in India can now afford buy a computer with less than a month's income. Ten thousand rupees is emerging as the new price point for netbooks. But tablets are becoming available at even lower costs. A typical low cost tablet would come with a 7 or 10 inch touch screen, a free operating system, fast processors, graphic cards and internet connectivity. Datawind, a Canada based company that launched the $35 (about 1,750) Aakash tablet (subsidised by the government for students), says the actual cost is $49. Datawind has been able to get it at this price point due to cheaper hardware and free OS, Google's Android 2.2. Google gives the OS free and makes money via user downloads. Says Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind: "Prices have come down due to open processor architecture. Earlier it was an Intel-AMD monopoly." At present the screen is the most expensive part-about 22-25% of the cost. Though costs may not decline further, performance could improve a lot more. "It's like a 100 meter race. After hitting these levels ($35) there's very little room for further price cuts," says Rachna Nath, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). "But each new version will come with better hardware at similar or lower costs." Adds ITC's Sivakumar: "Functionality of today's devices is far superior to the options available earlier." And this will only get better. "Telecom backbone is also more evolved today."
 

NUMBERS BUILDING UP About 9.3 million computing devices were sold in India in FY11, according to MAIT. While desktop sales are growing just 10%, Net book sales are growing at 100% this year. Tablet sales have really started only this financial year, and already more than 100,000 units have been sold so far. "We expect the fastest growth in the smaller devices," says Bharadwaj. HCL expects that the market shore of low cost netbooks and tablets will grow from two per cent of all PCs sold to 30%-40% of total computer sales in just a couple of years. Such devices are invariably the best selling tablet in the portfolio of any company. Samsung N100, a 12,000 net book launched on August 15, is the company's `rock star' product. About a third of the N100 sales are in small towns like Patiala and Nagpur. Ecommerce is also helping push sales of computers in smaller towns. For example, about half of the sales of online retailers come from remote locations where customers. Two problems remain. First, these devices should not only be cheap, but also useful. That means a whole bunch of locally relevant applications needs to be built in order to improve the utility of such devices. "There's an expectation that all people are literate to use a computer. Tablets will definitely add mobility, but are there relevant programs or native language applications?" quips Jesse Paul, CEO, Paul Writer, a marketing advisory firm. Paul says that unless such devices help a taxi driver make a booking it won't be too relevant for him. Or can a small merchant do accounting on it? She points out that application developers don't come from a bottom of pyramid background. Hence, they may not quite know what will work for the masses. Adds Sivakumar of ITC, which is experimenting with tablet applications for farmers: "Because of lower education levels and poor infrastructure (for mass roll out) these devices need features like multimedia, video and photo shoot and transmission, battery time and ruggedness. An eco-system that supports solutions will help in adopting computers." Education, where industry sources expect high demand for low-cost devices, will be a big testing ground. "They (low-cost tablets) will benefit only a small percentage of overall schooling in the country -- only 4-5% of 1.5 million schools," says Anurag Behar, CEO, Azim Premji Foundation. "For mass education computers are irrelevant, unaffordable and unusable." The Premji Foundation works in teacher training and developing curriculum and impacts 2.5 million children. It developed school course in 175 CDs in 15 languages between 2002 and 2007. About 25,000 schools in 10 states use this. However the foundation has discontinued converting courseware to digital formats. "The process of learning does not happen via computer but via good teachers. But computers can be great for teacher education and adult education," says Behar. Second, manufacturers earn profit margins of only 3%-4% from the computers they make. It is even lower (2-3%) for low cost devices. "Companies will need massive volumes to sustain. Only companies with nationwide sales and services play might succeed," says Vishal Tripathi, senior research analyst, Gartner India. While R&D has worked hard to get all frills computers at low costs, some of the business and user models might take longer to emerge. Mass computing may not happen in a jiffy, but users are closer to it than five years back.
shelley.singh@timesgroup.com

 

Merchandising Sets the Pace Ahead of Race

Brand merchandising is at an all-time high, thanks to the country's first ever Formula One race. Shirts, jackets and even pillow covers inspired by F1 are selling like hot cakes, especially among youth. “Since the launch of the latest F1 collection, we have received a positive response from our consumers and we are already seeing a growth in sales. In fact, the collection is already one of the bestsellers at our online shop, www.shop4reebok.com,” said Sajid Shamim, brand director Reebok India.
Sports merchandising is not a new concept in India. Brands have tapped the market big time by associating with cricketand fans love to imitate their favourite stars in terms of clothes, shoes and other products. In fact, lately, youngsters have been buying up football merchandise as well. However, this is F1's debut in the country and Reebok India, Puma and Party Hunterz and Inkfruit.com are happy with the encouraging response to their associated products.
To tap the F1 craze — brands are offering a variety of things from shirts, jackets, caps, trousers to household products like sofa covers and pillows. The Indian F1, called Airtel Grand Prix, is being held from October 28 to 30 at the Buddh International Circuit. Being an official sportswear partner for Force India, Reebok has dedicated a collection of apparel and accessories inspired by the Force India F1 team.
Shamim admits that F1 has always been a niche sport in the country, but he feels it is fast catching up among youth and, therefore, they plan to cash in on the trend by launching something different in March. “Yes, we have a dedicated Force India collection and we will be coming out with a new collection next season. The collection will, of course, express the F1 spirit through new and interesting designs and the collection will reach the markets by March 2012,” he added.
Another sports major Puma, an official licensing partner for Ferrari and the supplier of team and race wear for Scuderia Ferrari, too has come up with a line of apparel, footwear and accessories.
“We are the official licensees for Ferrari and the Ferrari range is one of our most aspirational and best moving lines. We have seen a lot of interest from consumers because it allows them to own a little bit of the Indian F1 action and support the biggest motor-sporting event that our country has seen till date,” Rajiv Mehta, MD, PUMA India, said. Sports merchandise is going through an exciting phase and Mehta says, “Next year, you will see a range of Mercedes GP merchandise available at our stores.” Thanks to the metro-sexual look, accessories have become an important part of youngsters’ wardrobe. Party Hunterz, a onestop shop for party accessories, has launched a variety of products — chequered flags, wigs, drinking helmets and air horns.

‘Google Considers Financing Offer to Acquire Yahoo!’

NO RUNNING AWAY FROM DEAL 

 

 Google is considering providing financing for an acquisition of Yahoo! by another company or a group of bidders, according to a person who has been briefed on the matter. The company may opt not to take part in any offer and hasn't engaged in serious discussions with would-be partners, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
Yahoo is weighing strategic options after firing former chief executive officer Carol Bartz, in part for her failure to keep pace with Google in the online advertising market. Google, which is under regulatory scrutiny from governments around the world, may lend its financial support to preserve Yahoo as a rival and bolster competition in the Internet industry, said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Opus Research in San Francisco.
“If competition dissipates or diminishes, then the hand of regulators is strengthened,” Sterling said. “If competition is diminished or marginalized, then all the arguments about Google being a monopoly ring more true.”
Google, which has $42.6 billion in cash and short-term investments, is considering helping finance other bidders, rather than trying to acquire Yahoo outright, the person said. The US Federal Trade Commission began a review of Google's business practices, including search and advertising, the company said in a regulatory filing in June. The European Union and the state of Texas also have begun investigations of the company's leadership in search and advertising markets.
Potential financing by Google for a bid for rival Yahoo has parallels with the $150 investment that Microsoft made in competitor Apple in 1997 to help preserve competition in the computer market, Sterling said. Still, regulators might scrutinize any Yahoo acquisition effort that involves Google. The US government threatened to challenge an earlier proposal by Google to place ads on Yahoo's site, causing Google to abandon the effort in 2008.
Representatives of Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo and Mountain View, California-based Google declined to comment.

Bright Cosmetic Boom

Advertisement

Retailers Show 100% Interest in 0% EMIs

 

 

Counter slowdown by encouraging shoppers to buy higher-value products

WRITANKAR MUKHERJEE, ATMADIP RAY & PRAMUGDHA MAMGAIN
KOLKATA/NEW DELHI

    Retailers are countering the economic slowdown by offering interest-free equated monthly instalment (EMI) schemes, which they say are not only helping them pull customers into stores but also encouraging shoppers to buy higher value products.
Such EMI-based sales promotions have staged a big comeback at a time near double-digit inflation has put a heavy strain on household budgets, making people defer non-urgent and big-ticket purchases even on credit because of hardening interest rates. But transactions carrying zero percent financing have grown more than 50% over the past year, say retailers and bankers.
From apparel sellers such as Arvind Brand’s MegaMart and Fabindia to multi-product retailers such as Future Group, Lifestyle and Godrej, firms reckon that zero-interest EMI options are the most effective discounts they can offer.
While retailers end up bearing the interest for the duration of the credit extended, they see it as an acceptable cost of keeping the sales register ticking during the downturn.
“EMI schemes are removing inhibitions and inducing consumers to splurge on big-ticket items,” says Himanshu Chakrawarti, chief executive of Essar Group’s Mobile Store, the country’s largest mobile phone retailer. He says consumers going for six-month EMIs are buying handsets priced twice than they had initially planned and those going for nine-month to 12-month schemes are tripling their size of transaction. Almost a third of the high-end mobile phones, such as the iPhone and the latest models of Blackberry and Android-based phones, sold at the Mobile Store are paid for through instalments. The company, which rolled out EMI schemes at its 1,200 stores across the country over the past couple of months, recently became India’s largest seller of Black-Berry smartphones.
Instant approval of loans and minimal documentation help speed up EMI-based transactions, says Parag Rao, senior executive VP, HDFC Bank. He says the bank has seen a more than 100% spurt in this loan category over the past year with an average transaction of . 30,000. “Since the amounts are much smaller compared to home or car loan, the EMIs don’t pinch much,” he says.
Consumer durables and jewellery sellers were the first to offer such sales schemes, but now retailers across product categories are betting on interest-free instalment schemes. For consumers, this spells the return of consumer financing schemes, which had dried up during the global meltdown in 2008 and 2009 when banks turned away from most unsecured lending schemes.
But the return of such schemes is becoming a major motivator at a time when studies are showing consumers are searching for the best deals and discounts like never before. A latest study by NM Incite, a Nielsen-McKinsey Company, shows that conversations about deals and discounts account for 50% of all conversations in social media forums this Diwali.
“Deals are becoming the primary motivators to consider purchases. This more than anything will decide which brands will win a greater share of wallet this season,” says Adrian Terron, Head, NM Incite India.
From apparel and mobile phone sellers to furniture and computer stores, retailers across the board are reporting a jump of 10% in sales on average driven by deals like EMI schemes. They say the average bill size has also grown simultaneously by 10% to 15%.
EMI-based sales have doubled for consumer electronics during this festive season, retailers say. In the case of products such as LCD and LED televisions, nearly 15%-17% of all purchases are being made through such schemes, says Devang Mody, business head (sales finance) at Bajaj Finserv Lending.
The lender has tied up with manufacturers such as LG, Samsung, Sony and Panasonic and durable retailers including Croma, Vijay Sales and Reliance. It expects the festive season to generate EMI-based sales worth . 750 crore.
For jewellery retailers, hit by the double whammy of inflation and appreciating gold prices, interest-free instalment schemes have become a veritable lifeline.
Furniture retailers, staring at halving of growth to 10%, are finding a much-needed growth driver in zero-interest EMI schemes. “With inflation kicking in and discretionary spending capability of households going down, EMI schemes will become more relevant as these facilitate consumer instant gratification while paying in easy instalments later,” says Lifestyle International managing director Kabir Lumba.
Future Group’s Home Town is similarly offering products on interestfree EMIs, as is Style Spa, which joined the bandwagon a fortnight ago. Fabindia launched an EMI scheme this month on purchases of . 50,000 and above, which covers apparel and other products. “We intend to tap the burgeoning professional class through this scheme,” the company spokeswoman said.
Analysts say retailers stand to gain even as they absorb the interest component when they offer zero-percent EMI schemes. “While such schemes may impact their margins, the interest gets accounted as a cost they need to bear to generate sales,” says Devangshu Dutta, CEO of retail consultancy Third Eyesight. 

Allen Solly Looks to Double Turnover in Three Years

NEW DELHI Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd's Madura Fashion & Lifestyle is looking to double revenues from its apparel brand Allen Solly in the next three years on the back of wider distribution, new marketing initiatives and focus on women's range. For Allen Solly, the company registered sales of Rs 500 crore at retail price for the year ended March 2011. “In the next three years, we are targeting to double Allen Solly brand's revenue with a CAGR of 30%,” said Allen Solly Brand Head Sooraj Bhat. He said in the last three years, the brand's revenue has grown three times with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 40%. The targetted growth will come on the back of store expansion, new marketing initiatives and more revenues from women's wear range, Bhat said. He said, currently Allen Solly range is sold at 100 exclusive stores (a mix of franchise-owned and company-owned) across India, and the plan is to add 40-50 new stores each year.

Five Ways To... Quit Your Job with Elegance

AVOID ANTAGONISING PEOPLE at the time of leaving a job. You are bound to run into your co-workers and bosses in the future too. Keep your departure understated, says Shreya Biswas.  

 

1 Shun Bad-mouthing Two years ago, a director of an MNC resigned after a tussle with the management over his career progression. He left abruptly. Once out, he openly talked about his bad experience and ill treatment, which closed all doors for him to return. Six months later, the firm went through restructuring and another head put in his papers. He discussed his exit with his bosses and served the notice period. Today, he attends alumni meetings and the company, in turn, counts him as one of the probables for a higher leadership role when opportunities arise. “These are two cases that show what resigning with elegance can do to ones career,” says Atul Sharma, director HR, Monsanto, India.  

2 Carry on Relationship Don’t snap ties with people and the company. Leave with dignity. Be honest and candid, share your concern, if any, and also appreciate the help from colleagues. No person can grow if he is deprived of the support of an organization and its people. “Give real and well-observed feedback and the company might try bettering itself with your inputs. Your ideas will be valued even when you are leaving,” says Shekhar Arora, executive director, HR, Ashok Leyland. 

 3 Don’t Resign Abruptly If you are in a critical role, give the management time to find your replacement. Follow the exit processes. This will help you later both outside the company and in keeping relationships intact. "...If you are reasonable today, people will be reasonable to you in the future," says Arora. 

 4 Work till Last Day Stay committed till the last day of your notice period. “This way you will convey the message that you still care for employer’s interest and they will care for you. Professionalism, competence, and efficiency are always rewarded,” says Sharma.  

5 Don't Settle Scores Trying to take revenge is the biggest mistake. Exit interviews should never be utilized to take out grudges or frustrations about people. Be objective about your assessment of the organisation. “If you have faced problems with your boss or any other individual, you can suggest ways to improve interpersonal skills to retain employees. You will not only provide meaningful suggestions, but also help in bettering certain conditions,” adds Sharma.

Anger Management

Get Constructive, Keep Anger at Arm’s Length

Listing irritants & delights is a must and equally important is discussing them with those around you

PRIYA KUMAR

    In today’s times of exceeding professional pressures from office and home, it would require super human emotional control not to lose your cool when things don’t go as expected. “I am so irritable at work that now being angry and impatient has become a part of my nature. I hate it,” one participant complained to me at the end of the workshop. “How do I remain calm and graceful when my team delivers mediocre results despite my repeated attempts to correct them? How can I not get angry when they do the opposite of what was promised, or they do the work badly, or they don’t do it all?” He was at his wits end with his failing attempt at anger management. I know one thing for a fact that no one likes to get angry. Even the person who is angry, really doesn’t want to be. Anger causes a lot of pain physically and emotionally when it does surface. If you find yourself angry, then you are already too late for anger management. Here are some tips that I have found useful in my life to not only keep one’s cool, but also to protect one’s image as a leader.
 
LIST THINGS THAT TICK YOU OFF Often people discover what gets them angry when they actually get angry. Step back. Think about all the instances that provoked the devil in you and list them. “I get angry when people forget their responsibilities and pretend that they didn’t know about it.” “I get angry when people delay projects and don’t even bother to inform me in advance about it.” “I get angry when I have to keep repeating the same instructions and enforcing them.” Just making a list of these danger zones provides a great relief. Then one can ‘see’ the problem rationally before handling it irrationally when angry.
 
STRATEGISE TO KEEP ANGER IN CONTROL Once you know what makes you angry, let it be known. It would be reasonable to tell your colleagues about it. “This is your area of responsibility. We are both professionals and I would not like to constantly remind you or check on you for it. In case there is a delay, let me know well in advance so that I can look for other options to keep the client calm. I lose my cool when people don’t take ownership and I have to leave my
    job to make sure that they are on theirs. Let’s work together as a team so we all are happy.” It is very important that people know what will get them in trouble with you. If they know it, then if they still goof up, they ‘expect’ your outburst. So they don’t behave like victims and make you the villain.
 
LIST THINGS THAT DELIGHT YOU It is equally important that you let people know how to win your heart. “I like people who are punctual.” “I like people who deliver projects on time and with excellence.” “I like people who are creative and committed.” You need to see both sides of your expectations. It is a relief to know that you do have a pleasant and rational edge to your personality and that needs to be broadcasted.
 
REWARD HELPFUL BEHAVIOUR Make it known to your team and colleagues on how they can get in your good books. If they know it, then they can do their work with that awareness. Make sure that when things are done in accordance with the excellence that you expect that you empower them with the same intensity with which you would have reprimanded them. Holding a position of leadership does not mean that you become a saint and never get angry. It only means that you are expected to strike a healthy cord between empowering people and reprimanding them. When you turn your anger into something constructive, you won’t lose respect even when you do lose your cool.
 
The author is CEO / chief facilitator of PKTS

Management Tip

Schedule Regular Meetings with Yourself

By Harvard Business Review

AS WE CONTINUE venturing into uncharted economic waters, how can you keep your job on track and deliver your best? Schedule a weekly meeting with yourself. That’s right: no matter how busy you are, this is not a luxury. It’s essential. Every week, take a quiet hour to reflect on recent critical events—conflicts, failures, opportunities you exploited, observations of others’ behavior, feedback from others. Consider how you responded, what went well, what didn’t, and what might be more effective in the future. Never cancel this meeting—it’s crucial.

Bajaj Auto Q2 Profit Rises Just 6% on Forex Losses

But the company posts highest-ever quarterly revenue of . 5,342 crore

OUR BUREAU MUMBAI

    Bajaj Auto, India’s second-biggest two-wheeler maker, posted a lower-than-expected 6% rise in second quarter profit as mark-to-market foreign exchange losses robbed the sheen off an otherwise robust sales performance.
The maker of popular bike models, such as Pulsar and Discover, reported a net profit of . 726 crore in the July-September quarter, compared with . 682 crore a year earlier. But the firm’s revenue rose 21% to its highest-ever at . 5,342 crore on strong sales volume in India and overseas. Analysts said that the company had reported a “good set of earnings”. “The margins are slightly better than our expectations and realisations too have improved,” said Nikhil Deshpande, research analyst at PINC Research. The brokerage sees strong growth for the rest of the fiscal year with high sales volume and profitability.
Bajaj incurred a mark-tomarket loss of . 95 crore during the quarter, which it termed as a ‘notional loss’ and attributed it to forward contracts entered into to protect future export realisations.
“This is a purely notional loss and would get reversed on maturity of the underlying contracts,” said chief financial officer Kevin D’Sa.
But shares of the company fell as much as 5% on the results, before paring losses to end 1.3% down at . 1,616.
Earlier this week, Bajaj Auto’s rival and the country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp posted a betterthan-estimated 19% increase in second quarter profit.
Going ahead, high interest rates, which are weighing on car sales, are expected to benefit two-wheeler makers as some buyers could opt for cheaper options. Industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) estimates the twowheeler market to grow 12-14% this fiscal year.
Bajaj’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin rose to 20.1% from 19.1%, driven by higher realisation from exports and lower sales promotion spends.
“The results are pretty good in the context of higher raw material prices, the company has managed to maintain the margins at over 20% and the margin picture is likely to be better in the second half,” said D’Sa.
Margins would get a boost with 1% additional incentive extended by the government as part of its new trade policy, he said. Exports, which constitute 36% of its overall sales, surged 38% year-onyear to 4.24 lakh units in the second quarter. In value terms, exports jumped 50% to . 1,733 crore in the quarter.

Soon Personalised Luxury Chocolates from Nestle

ZURICH Nestle is launching a new brand of luxury chocolates selected to match individual preferences that consumers will order online. "What we are offering is the perfect personalised chocolate," says Cedric Lacroix, director of Nestle's Chocolate Centre of Excellence in Broc, Switzerland. Nestle, the world's biggest food group and global leader in dark chocolate, said the economic woes of recent years have not hurt demand for premium chocolate much, calling it an affordable treat.

Big Brother HUL Chops Lakme Salon Top Brass

CEO Anil Chopra among biggies to quit over last few months; HUL maintains to always have oversight of services arm

KALA VIJAYRAGHAVAN MUMBAI

    In early 2009, the board of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) set up a whollyowned subsidiary to develop a “uniquely different business model-…with singularity of purpose and dedicated focus.” The business: beauty salons. The subsidiary: Lakme Lever Pvt Ltd (LLPL). HUL went on to say that it would “not be directly engaged in the services business of Lakme salons…”
Almost three years later, HUL seems to have done a strategy rethink – or at least that’s what people closely involved with LLPL claim. They maintain that the HUL management is trying to take ownership of the salon venture at a time when it is showing signs of gaining scale and turning into an eminently-viable business.
This apparent interference in the management of LLPL has resulted in the exit of its entire top leadership team over the past couple of months. CEO Anil Chopra, whom HUL had called back out of retirement to infuse an entrepreneurial culture at the services subsidiary, quit at short notice a month ago. Other notable exits from the leadership team in the recent past include head of marketing Kiran Gill, HR head Sandeep Sengupta and head of operations Rakshit Harghave. Poornima Shah, national business manager for company-owned salons who had come in from Avon, also quit a few months ago.
The feeling within LLPL is that HUL is keen to take charge of Lakme salons now that the business is on an even keel. The Lakme services operation now directly reports into Gopal Vittal, HUL’s executive director for the home and personal care business (HPC). Currently, a former McKinsey consultant Karthik Seth is heading the salon venture.
An HUL spokesperson dismisses the notion that HUL has out of the blue begun interfering in LLPL’s operations. “As a 100% subsidiary of HUL, HUL has always had an oversight of LLPL’s operations. This will continue. Therefore, the CEO of the business, while operating independently to meet three objectives —of building a distinctive set of capabilities, and a service business with focus and a distinctive culture —has always reported to the Executive Director-HPC, who is a member of the HUL Board,” says the spokesperson. His contention is that Chopra decided to move on “for personal reasons. We are now on the look out for a replacement for someone to come on board and replace him.”
Chopra has been associated with Lakme since it was a Tata company. In the mid-90s it entered into a JV with HUL. Three years later the Tatas sold it to the consumer products giant. Chopra is credited with establishing Lakmé as an iconic beauty brand and conceptualising and running the Lakme India Fashion Week.
Chopra declined to comment on his exit and the possible reasons for it. Those close to him aver that HUL may just be trying to steal his thunder. After all, they say, that since Chopra rejoined after retirement with a growth-linked compensation package in 2009, growth has stepped up. Annual same store growth is 20%, Chopra has added some 65 new salons since 2009, and overall growth since then is 40-45% annually.

B’lore Metro Rolls Out Today

 

 

The metro services will cover only 6.7 km from today; will expand to 42.3 km by 2014

OUR BUREAU BANGALORE

Bangalore is taking a baby step towards solving its most pressing urban infrastructure problem with the launch of a Metro rail service on Thursday, which will be India’s third such after Kolkata and Delhi.
Traversing just under seven kilometres through the eastern part of the city, the socalled ‘Reach 1’ of the Metro is regarded more as a sign of hope than a major contributor to easing Bangalore’s notorious traffic congestion.
Linking the once-fashionable MG Road business district with Baiyappanahalli, the Metro is projected to carry 30,000 passengers a day, with fares ranging from . 10-15. The Delhi Metro, in comparison, has clocked peak traffic of 2 million, and snakes through nearly 200 km of India’s capital and surrounding areas.
“The first ‘reach’ will cater to a limited number of people and is unlikely to ease traffic in the city,” said Pravin Sood, Bangalore’s top policeman in charge of traffic. The subsequent ‘reaches’ totally spanning the 42.3 km, will make a difference when they are completed in 2014, Sood said, who expects vehicular traffic to fall by up to 30% as a result.
A recent global ‘Commuter Pain’ survey by IBM gave Bangalore the dubious distinction of being the worst city in India for commuters. Globally, India’s technology capital ranked sixth worst behind Mexico City, Shenzen, Beijing, Nairobi and Johannesburg.
With its prowess in software, Bangalore helped personify the image of a rising India to the rest of the world. But its infrastructure, particularly the public transport system, has been unable to cope with the needs of a growing city. With a population of 8.5 million, Bangalore has four million vehicles and adds more than 1,300 to their number every day, worsening the congestion on its choked roads.
GR Gopinath, the founder of India’s first low-cost airline Deccan, said that a Metro for Bangalore is better late than never. He suggested a steep increase in parking charges in the central business district to prod people towards the Metro. However, Gopinath, who now runs logistics firm Deccan 360, said Bangalore’s aesthetics have been spoiled by having most of the transit system overground. “It had destroyed heritage sites, scarred the city’s beauty and has thrown life out of gear for people. The Metro will only become viable if it is well networked, having multiple lines, which will reduce congestion eventually,” he said.
But N Sivasailam, the managing director of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, said having the entire network underground would have made it prohibitively expensive, adding more than . 4,700 crore to the project’s cost.
After the unqualified success of the Delhi Metro rail service under the leadership of E Sreedharan, many Indian cities are rushing to have a similar rail network. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, Jaipur and Chennai have all started work on the rapid transit system.
While the Delhi Metro has been a model for the rest, it does not have something that Bangalore Metro has: onboard Wi-Fi internet connectivity, in keeping with Bangalore’s reputation as one of the world’s top technology centres. On the other hand, Bangalore Metro is at least a year behind schedule and its first phase will cost . 5,000 crore more than the estimate of . 6,395 crore. It is only the second phase, which will also involve extensions to the city’s tech hubs on the outskirts, which will make Bangalore Metro a true game-changer.

Hero MotoCorp to Double Scooter Output

CHANCHAL PAL CHAUHAN NEW DELHI

The world’s largest two-wheeler maker, Hero MotoCorp, primarily a bike manufacturer, is planning to double its production of scooters to grab a 25% share in the domestic market. The company, with an installed annual capacity of 6.4 million units across three plants, plans to ramp up the production of scooters to 6,00,000 units a year. The company currently produces scooters only at its Gurgaon plant.
Production will be stepped up from 8,000 units to 9,500 units at the Haridwar plant over the next six months, the company’s CFO Ravi Sud said, and output will be raised at Gurgaon and Dharuhera manufacturing facilities as well. Sud said the company will enforce three shifts from next year to raise the annual output to seven million units. However, the company’s fourth plant that was expected to come up by the end of this fiscal in south India is now likely to be commissioned only in the second half of the next fiscal.

DoT to Free Up 650 m Mobile Numbers Starting with 8 & 7

To open up levels 5, 6 & 3 for mobile telephony creating 2.75 billion new mobile numbers

JOJI THOMAS PHILIP NEW DELHI

The proposal to move to 11-digit mobile numbers has been shelved for good. The telecom department has accepted the short-term solution from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to create additional capacity in the ‘7’ and ‘8’ series and this will free up 650 million mobile numbers to cater to the industry’s demands for the next 30 months, officials aware of the development told ETAs a longterm solution, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has also decided to open up levels ‘5’, ‘6’ and ‘3’ for mobile services. This implies mobile phone numbers of the future will begin with these digits. This will free up an additional 2,750.9 million (2.75 billion) mobile numbers, according to an internal DoT document reviewed by ET.
This is also expected to address the country’s mobile numbering plans for cellular services for about a decade.
Currently, the new levels that are slated to be opened up for mobile telephony are used for landline services – ‘3’ is used by Reliance Communications, ‘5’ by Sistema Shyam and ‘6’ by Tata Teleservices. These companies will have to move to move their fixed line customers to the ‘4’ series which has been allotted to Bharti Airtel for its landline
customers. This implies that landlines of all private operators will soon begin with ‘4’. State-owned telcos, BSNL and MTNL will continue to use the ‘2’ series of their landline services. According to an internal department note, opening up of level ‘5’ will free up 947.5 million mobile numbers, while levels ‘6’ and ‘3’ will generate 1004.5 million and 789.9 million respectively.
In 2009, the telecom department had proposed that India move to 11-digit mobile numbers by prefixing ‘9’ to their existing cellphone numbers. The department feared that the country would soon exhaust the ‘9’ series that were then used for mobile services. The ‘9’ series can accommodate about 900 million mobile numbers. While India has only 850 million mobile users at present, it had already exhausted the ‘9’ series nearly twoyears ago due to churn where customers switch operators, and several other factors such a migration, where existing numbers cannot be used at new destinations due to technological constraints.

Indraprastha Gas Q2 Net Up 16.5% at . 77 crore

MUMBAI Indraprastha Gas , the sole supplier of CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the national capital region, today reported 16.5% rise in net profit to . 77.22 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2011. The company had posted a net profit of . 66.27 crore in the July-September quarter of 2010-11.

Essar Ports Reports Q2 Net Profit of . 41 cr

NEW DELHI Ruias-promoted Essar Ports on Wednesday posted a consolidated net profit at . 40.84 crore for the July-September quarter of the current fiscal on higher realisation. The company, demerged from erstwhile Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics (ESPLL) earlier this year, said it will invest . 2,800 crore over two-and-a-half years to fund expansion.

Dish TV’s Q2 Net Loss Widens on Higher Sales Tax

NEW DELHI Direct-to-home services provider Dish TV on Wednesday posted a net loss of . 48.56 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2011. The company's net loss during the three months ended September 30, 2010 was . 45.17 crore. Dish TV India Chief Operating Officer Salil Kapoor said that . 18 crore loss was incurred due to higher sales tax payments on large number of set-top-boxes sold by the company ahead of the festive season.

Tata Tele Integrates all Services Under DoCoMo Brand

OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI

Tata Teleservices on Wednesday said it had integrated all its service offerings under a single brand - Tata DoCoMo. This brand had so far been used only for its GSM-based mobile services.
India’s sixth-largest mobile phone company by customers currently provides services under several different brands — its CDMA-based mobile offerings are under ‘Indicom’, fixed lines under ‘Walky’ and highspeed data services under the ‘Photon’ brand.
“All Indicom customers will now be under the DoCoMo brand. The integration extends beyond the brand – there will be one website and one call centre for customer services,” its executive vice-president, mobility business, Deepak Gulati said.
He added that the company was going in for a technology agnostic structure to leverage emerging market opportunities by merging its CDMA, GSM, 3G and Photon platforms under one brand – DoCoMo.
Tata Teleservices is 26% owned by Japanese cellular company NTT DoCoMo.
The new brand unveiling also witnessed the company launching a Facebook phone for Rs 2,000. Gulati said collapsing all existing brands into DoCoMo would result in significant savings for the company, including that of marketing costs. For instance, its 3,000 plus-strong CDMA retail networks will now be accessible for GSM as well, and vice versa, while the Tata Photon dongle will now be sold across all its outlets.
“Overall, whatever savings we get on marketing will go back into customer generation, into demand generation,” he said.
According to him, the new branding would also help the company prop up its CDMA services. Asked specifically on the company’s CDMA base stagnating over the past couple of months, Gulati said that Tata Teleservices was making investments in this technology platform and unveiling a slew of new handsets for its customers in this segment to propel growth.
The company also unveiled Photon Max, the latest addition to its Photon family of high-speed data cards. This dongle works on the REV B technology platform, provides wireless broadband speeds up to 14.7 Mbps on the CDMA platform and will be available in five metropolitan cites — Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. It will be extended to another 22 cities by the year-end, Gulati said.

Infy to Double Revenue from Europe, Match Americas’ Show by 2014

HARRY SUHARTONO & ANSHUMAN DAGA
SINGAPORE

India’s No.2 software services exporter Infosys aims to double the revenue share from Europe to 40% of its total sales by the end of its 2014 financial year, as cost-strapped global companies step up outsourcing. The Bangalore-based company, a pioneer in India’s $76-billion IT sector, has grown rapidly by employing thousands of engineers in lowcost Indian centres and catering to overseas firms, mainly based in the United States.
“Our target is by 2014, our business will be 40% from Americas, 40% from Europe and 20% from Asia,” Ashok Vemuri, Head of Americas and member of the company’s board told Reuters in an interview at Infosys’ office in Singapore. Vemuri heads Infosys’ financial services and insurance business, which accounts for about a third of Infosys’ revenue. The firm employs more than 140,000 staff and aims to add a total of 45,000 people globally this year.
Valued at nearly $32 billion, Infosys competes with top ranked Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and global firms including IBM and Accenture for large IT outsourcing deals. Vemuri said companies in Europe were taking a longer time to decide on IT services contracts due to the eurozone debt worries, but the long-term outsourcing trend was intact.
“Today, unlike in the past, they are looking over their shoulder. They are saying, ‘let me get one more approval from my boss. They want to throw this to the top of the house’”.
Europe is the second-largest market for India’s software firms, which have been looking to increase their sales to the region to hedge against their exposure to the United States that accounts for more than half their sales. Infosys’s revenue jumped nearly 20% to $3.4 billion in the six months ended September 30. Vemuri said the company is still expanding in continental Europe. “Amidst all this uncertainty and chaos, there are significant opportunities,” said the former investment banker who joined Infosys in 1999. Infosys earned 65.3% of its revenue in Q2 from the US versus 65.8% from a year ago.

TCS Turns to Smaller Cities to Cut Costs

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asia’s biggest employer of software developers, will shift hiring to low-cost cities in India as it struggles to maintain profitability amid spiralling labour costs. The company, based in Mumbai, is building campuses and adding workers in cities including Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Indore and Cochin, chief financial officer S Mahalingam said in an interview.
The company’s shares plunged the most in more than two years on Tuesday after earnings missed analysts’ estimates amid rising costs.
Employee costs at Tata Consultancy, which spent $2.8 billion on salaries in the year-ending March, rose 27% last quarter exceeding the 15% increase in profit. While expanding in cheaper cities will help reduce costs, lack of infrastructure and quality of employees may create new challenges, according to Vihang Naik, an analyst at MF Global Sify Securities.
“The biggest campuses that we’re building now are in Pune and Ahmedabad,” Mahalingam said in Mumbai on Tuesday. “At the same time we are putting pressure on the system and the government to upgrade the infrastructure in these places.”
TCS gained 1.47% to . 1,048.7 at 12:30 pm in Mumbai after plunging 7.7% on Tuesday after profit missed analysts’ estimates by 3%. The company’s operating margin narrowed by 1 percentage point in the three months ended September 30.
India’s inflation exceeded 9% for a 10th straight month in September, reducing room for the central bank to pause its record interest rate increases and maintaining pressure on wages. Salaries in India are set to rise the most in the Asia-Pacific region this year, according to an Aon-Hewitt survey released on March 8. Wages are likely to rise at an average of 12.9% in 2011, compared with 11.7% last year, according to the survey of 531 organisations from 18 primary industry
sectors in December and January. Chinese salaries may rise 9%, while
those in the Philippines 7%, Aon Hewitt said. Tata Consultancy and other Indian software developers “hardly have a choice in terms of this expansion,” Naik said. “It has to happen in smaller towns.”
Second-tier cities like Jaipur and Ahmedabad have operating costs that are 20-30% lower than established technology hubs like Bangalore, according to a May report from Everest Group, a Dallas-based firm that advises companies on outsourcing strategies.
TCS, which has 20,000 workers and 17 offices in Mumbai, will increase its workforce in Ahmedabad to 12,000 from 2,000, and add to its “small presence” in Pune with a new facility that can hold 17,000 workers, Mahalingam said. — Bloomberg

Samsung, Google Unveil Phone for Revamped Android

Samsung Electronics unveiled the first smartphone running on Google’s latest version of the Android operating system, which combines software used in tablets and smartphones, as they step up competition against Apple.
The global launch of the Galaxy Nexus kicks off in November and comes as competition intensifies between Samsung and Apple to win market share in the booming tablets and smartphones industry.
Samsung and Google introduced the high-end model at an event in Hong Kong, after delaying the launch last week as a tribute to the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer for microprocessors.
“This will be our strategic product for year-end holiday season, as (Apple’s) iPhone 4S just came into the market,” JK Shin, president and head of Samsung’s mobile communications business, said in a pooled report with reporters ahead of a packed product launch in Hong Kong. This also marks the first major rollout from Google since it announced plans in August to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion.
The deal had raised concerns among hardware makers that Google may favor Motorola over other handset vendors such as Samsung, HTC and LG Electronics that rely on the free software. Google’s Android mobile software — already the world's most-used smartphone platform — powers 190 million devices, up from 135 million in mid-July. The latest version of Android, named Ice Cream Sandwich, is designed to unite tablet and smartphone platforms, potentially attracting more application developers and consumers to the Android camp, which has fewer applications available than Apple's.
Samsung, the top seller of Android phones and the biggest challenger to Apple, said the phone will have access to more than 300,000 applications and games, versus over 425,000 apps from Apple’s App Store. The release comes after Apple unveiled its latest operating system earlier this month which allows muchtouted voice-recognition technology dubbed “Siri”. During the launch in Hong Kong, executives demonstrated several features of the new gadget, including Android beam.

How Best to Use Your $100 BlackBerry Gift?

 

 

RIM is offering a selection of ‘premium apps’, but you may have limited access

HITESH RAJ BHAGAT NEW DELHI

    BlackBerry plans to win back some of its lost goodwill and placate irate customers who minced no words in chiding the Canada-based smartphone maker Research In Motion when its services went on the blink for three continuous days. RIM, facing angry calls for compensation from its customers, has responded by handing out paid apps worth $100 for free.
RIM has on offer a selection of ‘premium apps’. Available free of charge to all BlackBerry subscribers, these apps will be available during the promotion period – October 20 (today) through December 31, 2011.
On offer are five games: SIMS 3, Bejeweled, N.O.V.A., Texas Hold ‘Em Poker and Bubble Bash. For multimedia fans, Photo Editor Ultimate (an advanced image editor with many effects and image tweaks), Nobex Radio Premium (internet radio) and Shazam Encore (music discovery) are on offer. Collectively, these apps are worth roughly $20.
But most interesting are the productivity apps such as Drive Safe.ly Pro and Enterprise, iSpeech Translator pro and Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant, which can inject your BlackBerry device with some much-needed vitality. Collectively, these apps are worth about $80. Drive Safe.ly can read text messages and emails out loud when looking at the screen puts you at risk (such as when driving). Plus, you can response to a text using just your voice. It’s a boon for those with visual impairments too.
iSpeech Translator lets you speak or type a word or phrase and ‘speaks’ out a translation in a language of your choice. A total of seven languages are currently available, with the developers promising that more are on the way.
Finally, Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant puts a voice activated personal assistant on your phone – a service similar to Siri, which debuted on the Apple iPhone 4S just last week. You can use the virtual assistant to find directions, update your social networks or search the web. Vlingo claims that their technology includes an ‘intent engine’ – which uses intelligence to figure out what you’re trying to say rather than just recognising the words – again, similar to Siri.
Word to the wise – RIM’s official press release on the matter clearly states that “availability of this offer will depend on the type of device, operating system version, access to BlackBerry App World and local conditions and/or restrictions.” Translated, it means that not all apps will be available for everyone. To check if the apps are available on your device, access the Black-Berry App World from your device and search for these apps or simply look for the section marked ‘compliments of BlackBerry’.

 

Eyeing Volumes, Mahindra to do a Nano with SUVs

WORKING WITH SSANGYONG ON SUB-. 4 LAKH SUV

KETAN THAKKAR MUMBAI

If you’re looking for fuel efficiency, your best bet is a small car. If adventure and a muscular look and feel are what you prefer to trip out on, a sports utility vehicle (SUV) would be your choice of wheels. But what if you’re seeking both mileage and the pleasures of off-road driving — at a jawdropping price?
Say hello to the mini-SUV, a firstof-its kind vehicle in India — and perhaps the world — that utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is developing with Ssangyong, the South Korean SUV maker it acquired last year. Codenamed the S101, the ‘Nano’ SUV — as it is being dubbed by some workers on M&M’s shop floors — will be powered by 1- 1.2 litre petrol engines and 1.5-litre diesel engines. Work on the project began a year ago, say people working on it; and the vehicles are expected to roll out of M&M’s plant in Chakan on the outskirts of Pune — where the newlylaunched XUV500 is being produced — in 26-28 months. Estimated price range: between . 3 lakh and . 4 lakh.
The price tag is noteworthy because most mini-SUVs — typically under 4 metres in length — are premium products. The Jeep Wrangler, Nissan Juke and Skoda Yeti are some of the best-selling mini and compact SUVs globally, yet their pricing is clearly premium — the Yeti, for instance, sells in India at over . 14 lakh.
If M&M can pull off the S101 at the stated price, it would make it the only mini-SUV in that price range anywhere in the world. To persist with the Nano analogy, it would do for SUVs what Tata Motors has done for cars by opening up an altogether new ultra lowcost category.
The S101 project is also the first joint development effort by the M&M-Ssangyong combine. For the South Korean maker of sports utility vehicles, the low-cost segment is alien, and hence a welcome addition to its range.
There’s another reason both M&M and Ssangyong are keen on this segment: In India, passenger vehicles under 4 metres fitted with 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engines attract a lower excise duty of 10% (for larger cars it is 22%). In South Korea, the vehicle will have a turbo-charged sub-1 litre engine as this segment does not attract a levy except for a 10% value-added tax.
Small is Big
•M&M and Ssangyong are jointly developing a mini-SUV that will be priced between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 4 lakh

•If they succeed, this will be the lowest-priced SUV in the world

•The SUV will be under 4 metres in length, giving both M&M and Ssangyong excise duty relief

•In India, the vehicle will be powered by 1.2 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel engines, and by a sub-1 litre engine in S Korea

•Mini-SUV is expected to roll out of M&M’s Chakan unit in 26-28 months Team of Over 100 Engineers at Work
When contacted, an M&M spokesperson said that as a matter of policy the company does not comment on future plans. Says Rajan Wadhera, chief executive, technology, product development & sourcing, M&M: “Work on a new platform should be concluded very soon and it will be on the compact side.” He refused to divulge specific details. He added that the project is at the styling and customer research stage and technocommercial viability has to be established. People close to the development say the platform will be monocoque (or unibody) and the plan is to have different body shells for M&M and Ssangyong vehicles.
M&M has set up a team of over 100 engineers who are working on various functions of styling, body design, trims, vehicle integration, suspensions, engine development and cooling systems. The company is relying on value engineering and software solutions to keep development costs low.
“M&M is banking on high volumes of at least 1,00,000-1,50,000 units per annum and the use of lighter and cost-effective material such as plastic in fuel tank, fender, and the frontend module to keep costs low. The vehicle may be somewhat like a mini-Gypsy (from the Maruti stable),” says a vendor close to the development. M&M is investing . 3,000-4,000 crore over the next 3-5 years on research & development in SUVs; the S101 is the first major project in which Ssangyong’s R&D expertise will come handy.
VG Ramakrishnan, senior director, automotive & transportation at Frost & Sullivan, feels if M&M wants to be a big volumes player in SUVs, it needs to have a presence in the compact/mini segment.
“As price points get higher, the volume potential starts shrinking; so M&M will have to push the envelope at the lower price points,” says Ramakrishnan.

Get a Better Experience on Twitter

 

 

 

With roughly 250 million tweets doing the rounds each day, it’s no wonder that Twitter is the place to get information on anything and everything. Nimish Dubey has a few suggestions on how you can do this better

    Utter the word ‘Twitter’ and there’s a fair chance that most people will think that you are referring to the social network that lets you express your views and read those of the ones you are following in an all too brief 140 characters. A network that is rapidly becoming notorious for celeb tweeters (those who use Twitter) who often put their feet in their tweeting mouths, costing them followers and sometimes ministerial positions.
However, there is more to Twitter than just 140 characters. One of the biggest advantages of having a Twitter account is the fact that you can get brief news snippets and view website links that your followers think are worth reading, throughout the day. It is almost like having a news source that is constantly updating. What's more, you can even read your Twitter – or at least some parts of it – just like a newspaper, and flip through pages, complete with headlines and pictures. Just try these handy apps that give a distinctly newspaper-y flavour to Twitter, and that too without charging you a single paisa.
5 Cool Twitter
Hacks
If you need to find out who has unfollowed you recently, head to www.useqwitter.com. The service sends you a weekly email with a list and also helps identify spammers
To track your Twitter ‘performance’, head to www.twittercounter.com. Once you authorise the app, it will show you a graph with follower statistics and a whole host of other useful information
Start a petition on Twitter using www.twitition.com. You can create, sign and share an online petition here, which your followers can sign At www.screenr.com, you can create a screencast (a video capture of whatever you do on screen + your voice) and sign in with your Twitter account to share it with your followers directly. It works on Mac or PC without any downloads
Twitter Answers at http://ask.mosio.com/twitterlets you ask questions and get answers from people outside of your network. You need to follow Mosio on Twitter and once you ask a question, they’ll send you a response

Flipboard (iPAD ONLY) The app is best known for converting your social networks into a magazinelike format for the iPad and well, Twitter is no exception to this. It not just converts your Twitter feed into a flippable magazine format, but also goes out and pulls excerpts from the web links and pages that have been shared with you. And yes, it also acts as a Twitter client of sorts, letting you retweet, reply and post new messages from within the app itself. You can even read content offline — just load the app once and read throughout the day. Best of all, it shows many of the normal tweets that don't share any links too. By far the best Twitter-as-newspaper app around.
Get it from: iTunes App Store

Paper.li (MULTI PLATFORM) Flipboard may have the bells and whistles, but when it comes to sheer simplicity, you have got to love this online service that converts your RSS, Twitter and Facebook feeds into a newspaper format, with stories slotted nicely into categories. Nope, you do not need an app to make this work — it works just fine within a computer, iPhone or Android browser. You can even rearrange items and add feeds about other subjects and users to come out with a more rounded out newspaper to read, and can also check the ‘newspapers’ made by other users. Our complaint? You get very tiny slices of the stories whose links have been shared. But we will take it.
Get it from:http://paper.li 

Tweeted Times (iPAD, PC) In terms of concept, Tweeted Times is very similar to Paper.li — you go to a website, sign in using your Twitter details and hey presto, all the news gets laid out in a neat newspaper-like format. However, there is a little twist in the tale here — Tweeted Times actually presents and ranks stories as per their popularity among your friends. You can also generate newspapers using Twitter Search and Twitter Lists. While it works faster than Paper.li in terms of generating newspapers, you do not get the kind of control over content that Paper.li gives you. And once again, only very small bits of news are actually available to you, making you head to the sites for some details.
Get it from: http://tweetedtimes.com 

News.me (iPAD, PC) This is one service that not just converts your Twitter feed into a newspaper but even acts like one, delivering it to your mailbox first thing in the morning. You can also view these on your iPad at any time by downloading the News.me app from the App Store. Presentation is rather straightforward and frankly, not too newspaperish — it is more like one story below the other, with images and media files thrown in. However, we love the fact that we can opt to view the complete story (you only see a small portion by default) either using a specially streamlined and fast view within the app itself or view it in all its glory in the browser. You can also look at the News.me streams of those you follow (if they are using News.me, of course) and of some prominent people. Very neat, we think.
Get it from: http://news.me 

Evri (iPAD ONLY) The latest contestant in the ‘social network is a magazine’ app arena, Evri is being seen by many as a rival to Flipboard. And it certainly adds a lot of newsy fizz to your Twitter reading experience. All you need to do is log in to your Twitter account from within the app to see excerpts of the links shared laid out in a page after page format, a bit like a feature-heavy newspaper. In a very neat touch, you also get links to related subjects; so a story on Steve Jobs will also give you the option to check out news about Apple and the iPhone. You can share stories and read their full versions (you do get very decent chunks of them in the app itself) on the browser or within the app itself, and even opt to read them later offline using Instapaper and Read It Later. An excellent option for those who love reading. Sadly, even this works only on the iPad.
Get it from: iTunes App Store

Tweed (iPAD ONLY) ‘The Twitter app that's just for links’ is the line used to promote this app and it certainly lives up to it. It arranges the Tweets with shared links on the left hand side of the display and all you need to do to view a link is tap on the tweet and the link opens on the right hand side of the display in the form of a card which can be expanded — no, you do not need to go into a browser to read it. You can share articles and opt to read them later using Instapaper. Nope, not quite classic newspaper reading as we know it but a very good effort at highlighting Twitters newsy side. And we like the concept of cards that side up and down as you select different stories. Who knows, maybe this is what newspapers could become — a series of headlines with the option to simply touch and read the story you want to? But that is another story.
Get it from: iTunes App Store

RIM Unveils New OS to Challenge Apple, Google

HUGO MILLER TORONTO

Research In Motion (RIM), looking to spur consumer interest in its devices after losing sales to Apple and Google, unveiled a new operating system for its Play-Book tablet computer and new smartphones.
The software, called Black-Berry BBX, combines features of RIM’s existing Black-Berry operating system and its newer QNX program, cochief executive officer Mike Lazaridis said on Tuesday at RIM’s BlackBerry developer conference in San Francisco. RIM is banking on the new software to encourage developers to build more programs for its devices as consumers increasingly use mobile devices to watch video, listen to music and browse the Web. The Waterloo, Ontariobased company’s BlackBerry phones have lost market share to Apple’s iPhone and devices running Google’s Android software, which offer a wider selection of applications. RIM’s PlayBook has sold fewer units than some analysts estimated.
RIM rose 2.2% to $22.90 at 12:32 p.m. New York time. It had lost 61% this year before Tuesday.
RIM’s US smartphone market share fell to 20% in the quarter through August from 25% three months earlier, according to ComScore Apple rose 0.7 percentage points to 27.3% while Google’s Android platform climbed to 44% from 38%.

Manesar Resumes Swift Rollout

Maruti Suzuki has begun production of its best-selling Swift hatchback from its strike-crippled Manesar plant in Haryana, the company said on Tuesday.
The carmaker rolled out 350 units of Swift from the plant that was shut for 10 days following a sit-in protest by employees demanding reinstatement of 1,100 casual workers. Workers had started moving out of the factory on Friday following a court order, which enabled Maruti to resume partial production at the plant on Monday.
“The entire focus is to get the production normalised. We have over one lakh Swift customers waiting and we want to deliver the cars as soon as possible,” a company official said. Between the Gurgaon and the Manesar plants, the company produced 480 Swift cars on Tuesday.
The Gurgaon plants were able to raise output by 50 units to 1,750 vehicles, against its capacity of 2,800 cars a day. Production at the plants was affected due restricted supply of diesel engines and transmission from Suzuki Powertrain India, an affiliate. Three strikes at carmaker since June have cost it a production loss of about 60,000 cars. The company held two more rounds of talks with the agitating workers on Tuesday.
“There was a round of meeting in the morning and one in the evening. There are positive signs from the negotiations, but its too early to comment which way the talks end,” people close to the development said.
Maruti shares have fallen 16% since the start of the first strike on June 13. On Tuesday, the stock was 0.07% up at . 1052.3. The company has a booking order of over 110,000 Swift cars. Low production has pushed its waiting period to five to six months. On Tuesday, Maruti strengthened the workforce at its Manesar plant to 400 and said it had repaired and made operational the weld and press shops it claimed were damaged by workers.

JLR to Assemble 2 More Models Here

ON INDIAN ROADS SOON: Range Rover Evoque 

 

Co plans to roll out Jaguar XF and Range Rover Evoque SUV within 12-18 months

KETAN THAKKAR MUMBAI

Tata Motors-owned British marquee Jaguar Land Rover is revving up to assemble two more models in India, which will increase its competitiveness in the fast-growing domestic luxury automotive market.
JLR is looking to roll out locallyassembled Jaguar XF sedan and Range Rover Evoque SUV within 12-18 months, a vendor familiar with the matter told ET. The company’s India spokesperson declined to comment.
The new offerings will beef up JLR’s presence in the segment where German rivals BMW, Mercedes and Audi hold sway. The company currently sells the SUV Freelander 2 assembled at its factory in Chikhale, Maharasthra while the rest of its portfolio comprises completely-built units or fully-imported vehicles.
Assembled cars attract a lower import duty of 10-30%, while imported vehicles are slapped a duty of more than 100%. JLR organised a meeting of vendors last week in Pune, the first time such a meet was held outside Britain, where 20 key vendors from India and 20-30 vendors from UK participated, along with the company’s CKD head Mark Wallace, three vendors who were invited said. They added that Ian Harnett, JLR’s directorpurchasing said at this meet that the company will assemble more products and eye at least 20% market share in the next three years. “JLR feels India and China will be the key growth drivers in the next five-10 years. Therefore, the company envisages a bigger assembly operation in India and joint venture partner in China to boost its overall growth,” a key supplier said, requesting anonymity.
Experts say the Jaguar XF will take on the Mercedes Benz E Class, BMW 5 Series and Audi A6, while the Range Rover Evoque will compete with the BMW X3 in terms of price, though it is as compact as the BMW X1.
The domestic luxury car market, roughly defined as comprising vehicles priced at more than . 20 lakh, is estimated to be growing at 35%-40% annually, ranking India among the fastest-growing markets in the world.
It is expected to clock sales of 23,000 units this fiscal. BMW, which overtook Mercedes Benz in 2009, dominates the segment, with Audi emerging as an aggressive third player. In 2010, BMW raced ahead with 6,246 units, while Mercedes Benz clocked sales of 5,819 units and Audi trailed with 3,003 units sold. JLR sold 891 units in 2010-11, but it aims to more than double the figure this fiscal. According to vendors, the company plans to ramp up its outlets tenfold to 100 over the next five years.
The MD and chief executive of Mercedes Benz, Peter Honegg recently named JLR as their biggest competitor in the long run. JLR will need to sell at least 3,000 units a year to break even, says Mahantesh Sabarad, auto analyst with Fortune Broking. “With the assembly of models in India, the pricing will come down and it will boost volumes. And larger the volumes, the better the profitability,” he said. Though the 2 litre-2.2 litre engines fitted in the Evoque are ideal for Indian conditions, the company will have to overcome stiff competition from the German rivals to appeal to the typical Indian buyer who is aged over 40, he said.