India becomes the focal point for growth as IBM fights to stay on top

India becomes the focal point for growth as IBM fights to stay on top - Technology - International Herald Tribune: "The number of IBM employees in India has grown to 43,000 (out of 329,000 worldwide, 191,000 in services) from 9,000 in early 2004, making IBM the largest multinational employer in the country. Some of the growth has been through acquisition. In a $160 million deal in 2004, IBM purchased Daksh eServices of New Delhi, one of India's largest back-office outsourcing firms, with 6,000 workers. Since then, that operation alone has grown to 20,000 employees.

Cognizant is one of IBM's "hybrid" competitors, meaning that it is incorporated in the United States but has the bulk of its 28,000 employees in India. IBM is certainly hiring in the thousands, but it is growing not just in size but also in revenues. The company's India business grew 61 percent in the first quarter of 2006, 55 percent in 2005 and 45 percent in 2004.

On the pricing front, rivals like Tata Consultancy Services, based in Mumbai, and Infosys Technologies, based in Bangalore, have pioneered and perfected the low-cost model. Infosys Technologies, with 52,700 employees, has $2.15 billion in annual revenues, a figure growing 30 percent annually. But the depth, breadth and geographic spread of IBM's global operations, which generated $91 billion in sales last year and $47 billion from services, keep it ahead of its competitors for now."