| Ericsson
to set up radio base stations in India |
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Swedish communications major,
Ericsson plans to start manufacturing radio base
stations in India, becoming the first multinational
to manufacture equipment that receives and transmits
voice and data from one mobile phone to another
locally. The company already manufactures switches
in India.
The new facility will be set
up in Jaipur and is expected to start shipping
out products within six months. The Company hopes
to reduce time-to-market and costs over a period
of time and also customize it to suit Indian cellular
operators’ needs.
Jan Campbell, president, Ericsson
India stated that Ericsson intended to play a
greater role in supporting local applications
for the Indian market in addition to its pioneering
role in the development of mobile internet applications
and solutions for India.
Mr. Svanberg, CEO, Ericsson
claimed that the success of the company’s
Indian operators was related directly to its value-added
services. In urban areas this would amount to
network quality performance, various service packages
and easy-to-use prepaid services; while in rural
areas it would mean coverage.
Expressing optimism on
the global telecom sector too, he projected the
industry’s global mobile handset sales at
over 600 mln units in ’04, with the number
of mobile subscribers to cross 1.5 bln by the
end of ’04.
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| Wal-Mart
to set up wholly-owned arm in India |
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| Wal-Mart,
the US-based retailing major, is setting up a wholly-owned
subsidiary in India for product sourcing services.
The WOS will also conduct quality checks on products
and carry out factory inspections and certifications.
Only late last
year Wal-Mart formally showed interest in sourcing
goods worth billions from India, conditional to
the on-time delivery of quality products, at competitive
prices. The current decision to set up a subsidiary
might reflect the Companies strategy to step up
sourcing from India, as well as its increased commitment
to India.
Besides the cost-factor
that makes India an attractive sourcing destination,
Wal-Mart is also looking at reducing risk by not
being too dependent on single suppliers.
It plans
to invest in the Indian sourcing subsidiary via
Wal-Mart Global Sourcing (WMGS) Singapore and WMGS
Services. WMGS Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Wal-Mart Stores and has had a liaison office
in Bangalore India since September ’01.
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| Wal-Mart
and other US and European retailers
are looking at expanding the sourcing
base from India, as the restriction
on textile exports is to be lifted from
January 1, ’05.
The
retail giants also seem to be interested
in other categories such as marine products
like shrimps, OTC pharma products, spices,
linen, accessories, garments, home furnishing,
seasonal items, electrical appliances
and Indian food-items. Wal-Mart has
in fact stretched its India plans beyond
jewellery to include textile, apparel
and kitchen utensils.
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| Genesis
acquires Smart Yantra |
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| NASDAQ-listed
Genesis Microchip has acquired Bangalore-based Smart
Yantra Technologies, a software service outfit that
designs and develops solutions for video streaming.
For Genesis,
a supplier of display image processors for the consumer
electronics industry, the acquisition was an ideal
one. As Smart Yantra develops solutions based on
programmable digital signal processing (DSP) that
target applications such as digital video surveillance,
broadcasting and internet video streaming.
With the acquisition
Smart Yantra’s 30-plus employees will now
add to Genesis India’s 100-member strong team.
Genesis
had earlier acquired Sage, a provider of digital
display processors, with a strong development presence
in Bangalore.
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| Like
many other MNCs, Genesis has taken to
the acquisition route to speed up growth.
Mergers and acquisitions are in fact
becoming increasingly common in the
software services industry and analysts
suggest that the momentum will continue
for a while.
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| Eric Erdman,
CEO of Genesis Microchip had earlier given indications
of the acquisition stressing on the importance of
India’s role in the product roadmap of Genesis.
In fact its largest selling chip, FLI 2300, used
by digital video disk and LCD (liquid crystal display)
television makers, was wholly developed in India.
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