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British novelist Arthur C. Clarke said that sufficiently advanced technology is tantamount to magic.
…And we need technology leaders to bring this magic to the masses. Responsible for assessing, evaluating, and implementing strategies for technology to deliver incredible results.
For Hewlett-Packard (HP), Ipshita Dasgupta is the Indian market leader under which artificial intelligence (AI) personal computers (PCs) have been launched. AI PC is a technological breakthrough that is expected to become widespread in India from 2025. According to Dasgupta, Senior Vice President (SVP) and Managing Director (MD) of HP India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, “India is a dynamic and fast-moving market. It’s an exciting time for innovation. ”
HP in India is currently working on AI PC adoption, upskilling, education use cases, and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
AI integration: PC etc.
In his first year as MD, Dasgupta worked on new approaches to the market to drive consumer growth and build use cases for education and skill development. She spearheaded a program focused on small and medium-sized businesses, training them on AI.
“We launched AI PC and were the first to bring it to market. Since then, we’ve gotten a lot of attention on AI PC and had great conversations around AI. Overall, this year has been an incredible year. It was a year,” she said sarcastically.
In early 2024, HP announced the next generation AI PCs HP EliteBook Ultra and HP OmniBook X for pre-order in India for enterprise, creator and retail customers. These are powered by Snapdragon X Elite processors. The HP EliteBook Ultra AI PC is aimed at businesses, public sector organizations, and government departments, while the HP OmniBook X AI PC is built for retail consumers.
“I believe that in the next three years, AI PC sales will account for half of all PC sales in India.The growth is rapid and if companies do not invest in AI PCs now, AI PC sales in India will It will take three to four years. It’s an investment in technology,” she added.
Increasing demand for AI PCs and falling prices for AI laptops in the coming years are likely to accelerate their adoption in the Indian market. As the market shows signs of recovery, growth will be driven by new replacement cycles and increased adoption by enterprise users, startups, and IT organizations.
Compared to the US, PC penetration in India is less than 20%. Still, opportunities abound in this country: “The fertility of this market is driven by young people: a young future workforce, a youthful consumer base, and a huge number of young people and children in need of education. “Now is the right time for the wave of digital transformation,” she explained.
The aim is to make PCs available to every Indian. “One of the things I love most about HP, and the reason I came here, is that we have a wide range of products. There’s something for everyone. From a price point of view, we’re very competitive. “We are price-focused and continue to strive to make our products available to everyone,” she said.
Beyond PCs, AI is an integral part of HP’s various products including Poly, its communications portfolio, and printers. “We are and will continue to make a big difference by using AI in our Poly products and building AI into our printers,” he said.
A recent survey by HP found that 89% of Indians believe technology is an important factor in integrating traditionally excluded people into the economy, and AI has the potential to bring about change. It has become clear that it has transformative power.
Powering Atmanirbharat
HP has been expanding its manufacturing operations in India since 2020, manufacturing a range of products in the country including laptops, desktops, Chromebooks, and display units.
India has a workforce of 20,000 people and the country is a large part of global value chains. There are approximately 9,000 full-time workers and more than 12,000 contract workers.
Recently, HP and Dixon Technologies’ Padget Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to manufacture HP laptops, personal computers, and all-in-one systems in Tamil Nadu. The announcement, made by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnau, highlighted the importance of Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) under the Make in India initiative.
“We are on track with our PLI 2.0 plan. We are already manufacturing in India and look forward to operating more. As part of Make in India, some components will be locally sourced. It will be procured and some will be imported,” she explained.
Additionally, the company manufactures multiple models of laptops, desktop towers, and mini-desktops at its Flex facility in Sriperumbadur, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Asked if there will be further partnerships in 2025, he said: “It’s too early to talk about that. We’re really excited about our latest partnership.”
Bridging the gap: MSME, TIer II and more
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute significantly to India’s economic growth, and HP India recognizes this. The company fosters consultative dialogue with small businesses, works with state governments to upskill them, and trains small businesses on AI and generative AI adoption. “We are talking with people from multiple industries, marketing experts, data analysts, strategy and finance people to bridge the digital divide in the AI era,” the MD explained.
Large companies often have the funds to experiment with generative AI and deploy analysts, lawyers, and other experts to evaluate its content. This is not the case for MSMEs as there is no surplus, and this is where the role of support systems arises. “We are working with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to launch a program to help small and medium-sized enterprises start experimenting with AI by training them with immersive workshops to gain hands-on experience in leveraging AI. We’re promoting this in multiple companies, in about 15 or 20 towns across the country,” she said.
Highly digitalized SMEs achieve twice the profitability and revenue growth of non-digitalized SMEs.
In India, tier 2 and 3 cities are emerging as hubs of innovation. According to a study conducted by SAP India in collaboration with Dun & Bradstreet, 40% of technology startups originate from these small pockets, leveraging local talent and cost advantages. This technology-driven evolution has cemented India’s global position as a leading technology powerhouse, supported by strong corporate governance and a favorable regulatory environment. “Tier II and III cities are seeing significant adoption of AI. AI is making expertise available to these smaller regions, giving these regions better options and resources. “It will be,” she said.
What will help HP maintain its position in India?
In the third quarter of 2024, HP Inc. led the PC market in terms of shipments, with an overall share of 29%. According to IDC, it topped the charts in both the commercial and consumer categories, with a share of 34.3 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively. HP sold 1.05 million units in 3Q24, its third-biggest quarter ever, driven by strong performance in the enterprise segment with 30.2% year-on-year growth and strong demand for consumer notebooks during festive sales notebook has been shipped.
IT/ITES purchases have already begun and are expected to gain momentum in calendar year 2025 (CY). Meanwhile, increasing adoption of PCs for gaming and content creation, as well as increased focus on PC AI features and tools, will drive the consumer segment in 2025.
“We have a large number of gaming PCs on the market today. Gaming PCs are becoming more than just entertainment, they’re becoming a profession. This is a big growth area for HP,” explained the senior vice president. is also playing a key role in the company’s business expansion in India, it added. “As parents focus on their children’s education, we believe that nothing can add more value than a PC,” she concluded.
