Create enabling environment for startups, urges Michael Dell

Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive of computer maker Dell Inc, has called upon the Indian government to create an enabling environment to ensure growth of small and medium size units, which would ensure creation of sufficient jobs as the economy grows.

The Dell chairman said 70-90 per cent of new jobs are being created by start ups. "If you look at where the jobs come from, India has a large number of people; the question should be asked where are the jobs going to come from for all these young people? The answer is that 70-90 per cent of the new jobs will be created by small and emerging and mid-sized companies, not big giant global companies," Dell said.

Speaking at a media round-table at Bengaluru, the Dell CEO said, "It is important to recognise this because sometimes, only the big companies have voice in policy discussions, and they are not actually the ones who create jobs at the end of the day." 

"So, governments need to be very thoughtful, and I think the Indian government is working on how to make it easy for these businesses to be created and how do we loosen up things," he added.

Dell, who is also the UN Foundation's global advocate for entrepreneurship, said, "You have to have a large number of new companies to go and create those jobs."

"Whether it is an urban centre or some particular region in the world, if there are conflicts and problems, there will be a lot of unemployed young people," he said, adding, "This should really spot the connection between importance of creating these jobs and also having stability in the world."

Ruling out making smart phones, Dell said only one or two firms were making profits in it and quite a few of them were losing substantial money in that business.

"I met several interesting startups in Bengaluru, including InMobi and others. They are doing amazing work," he said.

Noting that India business growth at 30 per cent in 2014 was the highest globally for the company, Dell said India was the third largest market for its products and services.

"We are expanding and making investments in all our businesses in India, including services, R&D, data centre, Dell global finance, support services and manufacturing," he said.

With about 28,000 employees in eight cities across the country, Dell India focuses on major industrial verticals spanning telecom, banking, financial services, insurance, manufacturing and utilities.

"We are also expanding our retail outlets to 825 by year-end from 600 now," Dell said.

Predicting consolidation in the global PC market, Dell said the top three companies (Lenovo, HP and Dell) could corner about 80 per cent market share over the next five-seven years.

"The top three companies only have 53-54 per cent market share currently. In the PC space, we see a consolidation and gaining share. In the first half of this year, we outgrew other two companies in notebooks. We have been able to grow even though the market is shrinking," he said.