On the PC’s significance for India today, despite its low penetration:

Over the last couple of years, the PC has taken on an increased significance for India. From the situation some time ago, when the PC was perceived as a high-end, inaccessible and in many cases unaffordable luxury, it has now moved into the space of a productivity tool. Going forward, this trend will progress, moving on rapidly to the two-million annual mark, driven by plummeting prices and an increasing awareness of the real value a PC can add. Many Indian businesses have been using the PC to enhance productivity for a long time now. As more and more homes buy computers, the once-staid office box is now moving into consumer durables showrooms. Dealers of consumer durables today are more than willing to add PCs to their shelves as margins for products like color TVs have dropped drastically. With added momentum from financers who are willing to offer zero percent interest loans, the penetration of the PCs in the home segment has only one way to go—up! Another critical reason the PC will hold its own, is the ever-increasing functionality it can provide. With every passing year, the PC adds incremental value to computing, and what was once a glorified computing and report generation device has moved to a multimedia, multi-functional base from which to work, play and communicate.

On the PC’s role in driving India into the new economy:

Look at the tremendous changes in India since infotech changed from a "vertical" to a key enabler. E-governance, the digitization of information, and global communication and collaboration for business or pleasure are all the hallmarks of the new economy. In each of these, the PC has a crucial role to play, and coupled with the Internet phenomenon, this significance gains new proportions.

On the PC’s importance to the IT industry, given its low margins compared to services/software, and given the trend toward appliances and mobile devices:

Although IT services and software have been the center of attention recently, the fact undeniably is that the PC will lie at the center of this industry. In the context of device proliferation, the PC will continue to be a vibrant device at the center of computing for most people, but it will work alongside numerous companion devices and appliances. There is an incredible investment in the PC today. Going forward, the PC will occupy pride of place in Indian infotech, though the changes we are likely to witness will be in the way we interact with it. There will be tremendous simplification of the user interface. Speech and handwriting recognition, readability on screens and other such advances will bring the PC closer to humans and make it easier to use. This "humanization" of technology is essential for its proliferation and for its benefits to be realized globally. Clearly, the PC will be the technology driver and the foundation on which all this will be possible. The future of computing will include many different devices and multiple PCs, all connected and working together. The term "personal computer", or "PC", as well as the concept behind it, is morphing. This is not an "either/or" argument. It’s "either/and".