Compass delays IT expo indefinitely

Kolkata : East India's largest IT channel association, COMPASS, has postponed its expo dates indefinitely. Compass is keeping silent on the reasons for this decision, with its President--Pawan Jajodia refusing to comment officially on the same. However



According to sources in the association said that there was a big spat in the last expo committee meeting, as some members wanted to postpone the event till February-March 2009, seeing that the market is currently down. The case has now become acute as for the last two weeks, sales in Kolkata registered a record low.



With sales dipping by over 30 percent across East India, and major IT companies sacking employees to keep going, the retail segment has seen a steady decline in sales after the rise in hardware prices by 12 percent.



Some Compass members are of the view that if the expo kicks off in December it may not do well as consumers are refraining from making new purchases with their net disposable income going down. What is keeping the IT retail alive in Kolkata in this grim scenario is the big tenders by the government and MNCs and some small scale bulk purchases in the SMB sector. But the SOHO segment in Kolkata has been steadily going down.



Keeping this in mind, most members are quite sceptical about the success of the expo stressing on the financial doubts. Keeping their fingers crossed, Compass members are now eagerly waiting for the economic recovery stage to set in to carry on with the expo.



This year, major IT associations across India have seen a major shortfall. Especially with the East, major IT associations have either postponed their expo dates or are resorting to holding these late. Already, ITAO has postponed its expo dates and JITA, which normally hold its expo during the fesitval months of Oct-Nov, has postponed its expo to February.