Polycom eyes 25 pc revenue growth in India; bets on govt, SMBs

US-based voice and telephony gear maker Polycom is looking at deeper engagement with government and SMB verticals to drive expansion in India as it aims to grow revenues by 25 per cent this year.
The company, which is being acquired by Canada's Mitel Networks Corp in a USD 1.96-billion cash-and-stock deal, gets about 30 per cent of its revenues in India from government agencies.
"Last year, we grew at about 25 per cent and we expect to grow at a similar pace this year. The SMB and mid-market has been doing very well for us, expanding at 40-45 per cent. Government is another big area of focus for us," Polycom India and SAARC Managing Director Minhaj Zia told PTI.

In the January-March quarter, Polycom India's business grew 32 per cent, he said without sharing country specific revenues. Overall, it registered USD 290.1 million revenue.
Polycom Asia Pacific President Geoff Thomas said India is the fastest growing country in the APAC region.
"In terms of revenue contribution, China is the biggest, while Japan, Australia-New Zealand and India account for similar revenue numbers," he said.

Thomas added: "If India continues to grow at the pace it is growing, it will soon be our second largest market in the region."
Asked about the impact of Mitel acquisition on India operations, Thomas said it was difficult to comment as the process is still on.

Besides, Polycom has also set up its third engineering centre in India in Gurgaon in partnership with Harman. The other two centres are in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
"India is a key focus market for us. We will not shy away from investing in terms of expansion and manpower. It is an important market and these engineering centres are delivering solutions for global markets, especially voice engineering," Thomas said.
He added that about 800 people of its 3,000-strong workforce is in India. Of these about 650 employees work in the R&D centres.
Polycom is working with various authorities in India, including Punjab and Tamil Nadu police as well as state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Assam and West Bengal.

Asked if the company was looking at manufacturing in India, Zia answered in the affirmative.
"We are looking at the feasibility of manufacturing in India. Right now, Thailand is our biggest manufacturing hub... Given the incentives that the government is offering, we are actively exploring whether we can manufacture here. We should be able to arrive at a decision soon," he added.