Wipro plans 2nd hardware unit

BANGALORE: Wipro, which is mulling a second hardware manufacturing plant, is most likely to locate it in the northern part of the country.

Wipro currently has its hardware manufacturing plant in Pondicherry where it makes personal computers, servers and laptops with a capacity of 1,500 units per day.

The likely location for the new plant in North India is expected to be in and around the place where Wipro already has a presence. At present Wipro has a soap manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh and a switches unit in Faridabad. The decision on the new location is expected to be frozen in about two to three months time.

The new plant is expected to meet the growing market demand with a Wipro official saying there is a need for capacity expansion. The investment figures and plant capacity are not known at the moment. Asked about this development, Ashutosh Vaidya, VP, personal computing division, Wipro Infotech said, “We are in growth mode and expansion.

We are on the look out at all options.” The hardware business of Wipro come under its Infotech division which handles the India, Middle East and Asia Pacific market. The brand name of the existing Wipro products are LittleGenius for notebooks, SuperGenius for desktop PC and NetPower for its server line.

The PC segment in the country has been recording over 30% growth. The sales which include both PCs and laptops crossed 5m in FY06 and is expected to overtake 6m units in the current fiscal. Wipro is expecting growth to come from all the segments and is positioning its products as a value based offering.

The enterprise segment has been its strongest market while the retail segment is being addressed through its reseller channel network. Wipro Infotech ( of which the hardware division is a part) reported revenues of Rs 456.40 crore for Q1 of FY06, recording a growth of 35% on a year-on-year basis.