Bangalore: US-based computer maker Dell Inc. said it expects to sell more computers and servers in India even as global demand softens because of the current economic crisis.

Bullish: Dell’s Mark Jarvis. Hemant Mishra / Mint

“India is a major market, we are extremely bullish,” Mark Jarvis, chief marketing officer of Dell, told reporters after launching a campaign to tap the small and medium busineses (SMB) market in India. It is, he said, among the fastest growing markets.

Dell, the world’s second largest personal computer maker by sales, has a 3% share of hardware sales in India’s small businesses market, estimated to cover 1.26 million firms. The total addressable market is estimated to be around 3.92 million, Dell said, quoting a study by researcher IDC Corp. Hardware accounts for at least half the $5.85 billion (Rs29,127 crore) spent by small businesses on information technology annually.

“A 3% (SMB) market share is not acceptable... We want to be (among the) top,” said Jarvis.

Dell has 13,000 people in India as back-office workers and in sales and manufacturing. It opened a laptop assembly line in August at its factory on the outskirts of Chennai.

“The big firms have reduced investment in IT due to the current environment. In the short run, you will see most hardware firms focusing on small businesses,” said Mayank Saxena, senior industry analyst at researcher Frost and Sullivan. “You will see small businesses being the growth driver.”

The global financial crisis has forced companies to cut spending on information technology, hurting both computer hardware and software makers. Jarvis said Dell aims to increase market share globally at the cost of local computer makers.

“In such an environment, you either look at it and pull back or look at a strategy (to improve sales) and work on it,” he said.