After Infy, Wipro drops Satyam from rival list

New York, May 21 (PTI) Scam-hit Satyam seems to be losing
its status as a noteworthy rival for the top Indian IT firms,
as Wipro has become the second major player in this space
after Infosys to drop its name from the list of competitors.

Satyam used to be a regular in the list of competitors
mentioned by its larger peers like Infosys and Wipro in their
annual report filings with the US market regulator Securities
and Exchange Commission.

However, Satyam's name is conspicuously absent in Wipro's
latest annual report filing for the financial year ended March
31, 2009. Prior to this, Infosys also dropped Satyam's name
from its list of noteworthy rivals in its latest annual report
filing, filed with SEC earlier this month.

All the three Indian IT firms, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam
are listed in the US -- Infosys on Nasdaq and the rest two on
the New York Stock Exchange.

Before it was hit by the country's biggest-ever fraud
admitted to by its founder and then chairman Ramalinga Raju in
January, Satyam was known as the fourth-biggest software
exporter from the country after TCS, Infosys and Wipro.

Satyam Computer has already embarked upon a revival path
after its government-appointed board finalised a deal to sell
controlling stake of 51 per cent in the company to domestic
conglomerate Mahindra Group.

Satyam is said to have retained a large number of its
clients, although some of them have reportedly cancelled or
not renewed their contracts with the Indian IT firm.

In its latest annual report filing with SEC, Wipro has
said that "the market for IT services is highly competitive
and rapidly changing. Our competitors in this market include
consulting firms, big four accounting firms, global IT
services companies, such as Accenture, IBM Global Services and
India based IT services companies such as Cognizant, Infosys
and Tata Consultancy Services."

Untill last year, Wipro has also been mentioning the name
of Satyam Computer Services among its competitors.

In its annual report filing for the financial year ended
March 31, 2008, Wipro had named Accenture, EDS, IBM,
Cognizant, Infosys, Satyam and TCS as its competitors.

Besides, Satyam was named also in the annual reports for
fiscal years 2006-07, 2005-06 and 2004-05.

In its annual report filings till 2007-08, Infosys had
also been saying that it operates in "a highly competitive and
rapidly changing market", while listing out among its rivals
the names of Indian IT service providers such as TCS, Wipro,
Satyam, HCL Technologies, BPO firms like Genpact and WNS as
also global players like IBM, HP, Cap Gemini, Oracle and SAP.

However, in its latest annual filing for 2008-09, Infosys
has dropped the names Satyam as well as HCL.

The other names and factors about competition in Infosys'
latest annual filing have remained broadly unchanged from the
previous year.

Infosys has said that it competes with "consulting firms
such as Accenture Limited, Atos Origin, BearingPoint Inc, Cap
Gemini SA, and Deloitte Consulting LLP."

Besides, it also competes with divisions of large global
technology firms such as HP and IBM, IT outsourcing firms such
as Computer Sciences Corp, Keane, Logica and Perot Systems;
offshore technology services firms such as Cognizant, Tata
Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies Limited.

Other companies named as its competitors include "software
firms such as Oracle Corporation and SAP AG; business process
outsourcing firms such as Genpact Limited and WNS Global
Services; and in-house IT departments of large corporations."

However, Wipro and Infosys have not clarified the
reasons for Satyam's omission from among their competitors.

About competition, Wipro said that its "competitors are
located internationally as well as in India. We expect that
competition will further increase and will potentially include
companies from other countries that have lower personnel costs
than those currently in India."

"We believe we compete favourably with respect to each of
these factors and believe our success has been driven by
quality leadership, our ability to create client loyalty and
our expertise in targeted select markets," it added. PTI