CHENNAI DELHI KOLKATA MUMBAI

National Supplement - PC Components

Jan 28-Feb 3, 2013

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Hoping for a Better TomorrowThe PC industry is projected to grow at 15% to reach 12.4 mn units in 2012-13. Most component vendors are optimistic that the market will

provide a long-term opportunity as the Indian market has shown a consistent preference for assembled desktop

SANDHYA MALHOTRANew Delhi, January 23

The PC components industry is linked to the Indian PC market. According to IDC’s Q3 report, the Indian PC market continued to be resilient last year despite challenges such as economic slowdown

and high inflation. The PC industry is projected to grow at 15% to reach 12.4 mn units in 2012-13. Most component vendors are optimistic that the market will provide a long-term opportunity as the Indian market has shown a consistent preference for assembled desktop. As multi-national PC vendors entered India one by one, there was wide spread speculation that the assembled market would lose out but over the years, this market segment has continued to hold its sway as the market expands to embrace more first-time PC buyers.

The storage components have seen a gradual change due to device pro-liferation. Notably in 2011, following the Thailand floods, HDD shipments were severely impacted. Simultaneously, flash memory based storage devices used to create and delivery content more rapidly in enterprise applications and in thin client mobile storage devices gained popularity in the last two years.

According to a recently issued MAIT and IMRB IT industry perfor-

mance annul review report 2011-12, the assembled market has clocked in a fabulous growth of 56% in FY’12.This surge in PC penetration has been from the household segment, with SEC-C towns registering the highest growth of 45%. In fact, most of the tier-two, tier-three towns have robust demand where Indian consumers recycle old PCs, upgrade them in order to make effective use. These are additional factors that have contributed to the market momentum and indicate a business advantage for compo-nents. Also homes, schools, colleges, SMBs are still using assembled PCs as it offers the flexibility in customizing the configuration, avail dedicated support from the neighborhood partner and affordable price and the possibility of upgrade options in future.

A ROSY PICTUREThe component PC market in India is around `4,000 crore which can broadly be classified as MNCs, domestic brands and the assembled segment. Most often demand for components come from assembled PC makers, local OEMs, upgrade opportunities and accessory requirements. Most of the tier-two, tier-three towns have robust demand for assembled PCs indicating a business advantage for components. In fact, a larger part of component business has now shifted to the upcountry markets. Also homes, schools, colleges, SMBs are still using assembled PCs as it offers the flexibility in customizing the configuration, avail dedicated support from the neighborhood partner and affordable price and the possibility of upgrade options in future.

2012 was a year of smartphones and tablets. Mobile devices grew in importance and this has led to a decline in traditional PC sales. The new breed of devices is gradually spawning a multitude of PC components and from macro level perspective, the business drivers for IT and hardware industries are expected to be strong.

Therefore, this year the opportunities would increase in devices which combine flash memory and HDDs. Thus flash memory in ultra thin note-book computers will be most popular ether incorporated into a hybrid HDD or as a dual storage device configuration where the OS and applica-tions are stored on a small SSD and user data is stored on a HDD.

The industry is gathering momentum, which will most likely result in the introduction of new technologies, new launches and new alliances. Intel remains at the forefront in the semi-conductor industry and with some new launches expected in 2013 including the 4th generation core processor, the outlook remains positive.

RECENT TRENDSDual storage: Looking at the new breed of ultrabooks and tablets, the year will see interesting developments in digital storage technologies. Dual storage configurations using an SSD and a hard disk drive are becoming common in computers. We would see more of these being adopted this year

Nano Chips: The chip sizes are reducing with simultaneous improvements such as longer battery life, UltraHD video playing, high resolution display support and most importantly, low power usage

4K resolution in motherboards: The upcoming devices are expected to be even more powerful and faster and therefore, we can expect innovation in mother boards and internal systems to match. Recently, Gigabyte has announced support for 4k dis-play resolution thunderbolt motherboards using multiple standard 1080p displays with Intel Collage display technology.

Design and style to lead the peripheral/Add on markets: With the mobile devices gaining momentum, there is going to be a niche and increasing market for custom-ized peripherals market of chassis, mice and keyboards (specifically for tablets and latest OS), laptop covers etc.

FINALLY...In 2013, the market foresees a significant market growth, especially in the tier-2 and 3 cities. The number of tech-savvy end-users who keep themselves updated about the evolving PC technology, have been growing at these centers, over the last few years.

In the education sector, PCs are being increasingly required and used by the student community. The sale of PCs is on the rise in the upcountry towns and cities. Hence, there is an increasing demand for motherboards in such regions. It is also seeing a surge in gamers, especially the hardcore ones, who are going for high end motherboards.

Gamers, professional designers, schools will prefer desktop for customized con-figuration and bigger display screen. There may not be growth but a stable demand from Government institutions, Banking sector will continue for components. Also refurbished/PC upgrade market, they too require components and the demand may be still there.

PC Components: Rashi Banks High on

ComponentsThe market demands for notebooks and ultrabooks will drive

the components business

The PC components division has seen its fair share of highs and lows in the past years. The Thailand

floods made the situation worse for the components division and since then we could see a sluggish movement of the component world for the first 3 quarters. However since JAS 2012 the hard drive and RAM prices have stabilized and the DIY market has also found a stable position in the market. This growth was the change needed to the market. The estimated size of the DIY market is about 2.5 million PCs per year. Overall we expect 2012 and 2013 to have similar results and not expect any change in the same. The upcoming era belongs to innovation which will be fruitful in many ways. Currently the market demands for notebooks and ultrabooks which are the future of the business.

Rashi Peripherals has major brands when it comes to PC components namely RAM- Adata, CPU- AMD, motherboard- ASUS and ECS, graphic card- ASUS, opti-cal disk drive- Asus, monitor- Asus and LG and hard disk drives- Toshiba. These are recognized and popular brands for com-ponents and provide Rashi the grounds of development in the Indian market. Rashi Peripherals not only sells but also provides after-sale services which gives it an edge in this competitive market. Recent trends are quite scary as lot of parallel import of CPU, RAM, etc, is being dumped into India

causing further harm to the component market.

It has been noticed that the market has become more specific to quality and we as a distributor are already promoting mid and high-end products which can provide the consumer with more in terms of mon-etary benefits and service. Rashi Peripher-als currently has 30-40% of market share in the PC components distribution segment with a scope of growth in the future. The high-end products available in the market provide new solutions in the market like high-performance PCs can be made using AMD solutions and ASUS high-end moth-erboards and gaming PCs with high-end NVIDIA GPU are also quite popular.

The core focus at Rashi Peripherals is profitability at the channel level which will also ensure partner focus on this business. Also, we are concentrating on our old, consistent partners with whom we have grown together in the last 10 years. This loyalty factor helps us in tough times and makes us emerge as one of the leader in the market. Overall we expect a flat component

year ahead and partners will have to find ways to value add to improve their bottom lines.

RAJESH GOENKAThe author is VP,

sales and marketing, Rashi Peripherals

Key PC Component

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www.dqweek.comJan 28-Feb 3, 2013The DQ Week2 P C C O M P O N E N T S

V E N D O R C H A N N E L S T R A T E G I E SB SURYANARAYANAN, DIRECTOR, SALES, INTEL SOUTH ASIA

RAJAN SHARMA, VP, SALES, DIGILITE

VISHAL DHUPAR, MD, SOUTH ASIA, NVIDIA

SUNIL GREWAL, SALES DIRECTOR, INDIA, GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY

We expect the market for mobile devices, be it the smart phones, tablets, ultrabooks and the ultrabook convertibles to gain market share

and with the upcoming new launches expected in 2013 powered by the 4th generation core processor – as well, the PC industry is well on its way to witness forward growth.

Our channel partners remain the same across the board. In India, we have about 20,000 partners as part of the Intel

our hands every day. Interestingly, GPUs have the ability to boost non-graphical tasks by intelligently freeing up the core processor to perform key tasks.

NVIDIA was quick to recognize this global shift to mobility. We ventured into the mobile space with our Tegra range of processors. Today Tegra-powered smart-phones and tablets deliver superior performance on a wide range of consumer mobile devices with multimedia, gaming, seamless multitasking and brilliant graphics. Almost every smartphone and tablet worth its brand name launched in 2012, including Google’s Nexus and Microsoft’s Surface, are powered by a Tegra processor at the backend – a fact that speaks volumes for NVIDIA’s dominance in the mobile space.

The 2011 Thailand flood has resulted in the short-age of HDD products. Adding to this, the rise in exchange rate did not set the right platform for the

first half of 2012 for the component business. Also, there has been a drop of 40% in TAM (Total available market), which had its own negative effects.

Industry estimates put t he figures close to about 150-170k units a month. The silver lining is that the mid- and high-end segments seem to be stable and growing, making it the growth driver. For the year 2012, we have clocked close to 36%. There has been a drop in the entry segment demand but the demand from the mid- and high-end PC users has shown a positive growth. We have dealt in moth-erboards, graphic cards, optical drives, LCDs, networks, AIOs, servers and media players.

We are mostly focusing on the value proposition to the customers, that they need to sell products on features and not price. This does not help them differentiate themselves from their competition. They need to diversify into the various products that Asus offers and make the most of the variety and product line.

With the story of PC component dying out, the first PC still remains to be family PC and with NB (notebook) market growing, users still need a centralized home/family PC where the data is stored and secured. The NB boom is helping the cause as more and more users understand the value of PC based on a central place. The users are also aware of the fact that upgrade options are better in component products than in finished products. If we lever-age the NB growth, the surrounding accessories business like WLL /media players/speakers/headset have a much larger market to look into.

NVIDIA views this growth of the PC market posi-tively as it implies a gradually increasing market for GPUs as well. Besides, the constant updating

of GPU technology is a never-ending requirement for gamers and professional graphics users. Now with the market acceptance of ultrabooks and all-in-one-desktops, visual computing is on an all time rise. We are continually looking for new avenues to cater to this market segment to the best of our capability.

The year 2012 proved to be extremely important for NVIDIA. One of the key initiatives from our side was the launch of an extensive lineup of consumer and profes-sional GPUs based on our latest Kepler architecture. Both PC resellers/integrators as well as professionals dealing in the M&E industry undoubtedly agree on the fact that the GPU is not just about multimedia and gaming. Today, even popular browsers and office applications are using GPUs to process and deliver rich content faster. An entry-level dual-core processor with a dedicated graphics card can deliver a better PC experience to consumers than a mainstream processor-only model. And this stands true even if you are not a gamer but only a business user. This change in mindset was much required for the acceptance of this new array of GPUs.

Nowadays, mobility is a key facet of our lifestyle. Our smartphone decides how we manage our social commit-ments and client meetings effectively. We can get our work done much quicker with this simple gadget which is in

The PC components industry has seen some recovery in last year after the HDD crisis and platform tran-sition to SOCKET1155 in Intel, though exchange

rate variation has played spoilsport. Nevertheless, we have been able to maintain market share of 12% with our distributor sell-out units crossing 2,00,000 mark. We have been able to maintain 12% market share and have been first mover in pushing SFF solutions to cater to new segments like DIY AIO.

In the motherboards space we are getting feature rich and trend looks positive for DIY AIO segment where we are seeing lot of interest in channel with our mini-ITX solutions like Brazos DLAHD1S-K,DL-PV530A-ITX, DL-D250S dual display and DL-AD2550B-ITX with serial/parallel ports.

We have tier-3 strategy where-in we have national distributor and then we have our sub-distributors/ regional-distributors followed by our platinum and gold partners. Our products strategy is to ensure price/performance ratio to partners and customers giving best service and support.

Moving forward, the PC components market will evolve towards more feature rich technology products and may be driven by need to have touch, graphics all in built in the PC. Our small form factor solutions will play a major role in this in coming years.

Technology Provider Program, where Intel collects data from its authorized partners and uses this information for assessing the market conditions and what are the solutions/ strategy that we need to come up with.

Intel believes that one of the most important factors is the role the channel partner plays in the market. The responsibility of the channel partner is evolving, and with the different levels of technology it varies. The need to work with partners to focus on upcoming technologies and con-tinuously innovate; keeping in mind the increased benefits that could be offered to customers. Training on product and technology roadmap is given to the technology providers. Besides, we also share product integration techniques, sales and marketing tips with the channel partners to enhance customer solutions and help identify growth opportunities for their businesses.

The PC components market expects cutting-edge technol-ogy solutions, best-in-class training to the partners as well as unparalleled opportunities to drive their business growth and accelerate demand for computing devices and solutions in newer geographies. The Indian market would continue to present wider opportunities for the entire market because of the co-existence of both the traditional and evolving PC categories here.

Besides being cost competitive, the strength of the market has always been in the ability to provide customized solu-tions to their customers. There also exists a specialist set of partners in this segment that’s able to offer solutions to SME’s on networking, security, database, etc.

At GIGABYTE, we managed to sell approximately 6 lakh mother-boards in 2011-12. Our market

share should be around 29%. In the motherboard market, there is a growing demand for categories such as mini-ITX, micro ATX, ATX, and Embedded Solution Motherboards.

We don’t focus on having a large number of T1 (Premium) Partners. We work with a limited number of committed Premium Partners, so that we can give them every support we can, to help them focus on GIGABYTE business. This ensures that they get the optimal business and profits by working with GIGABYTE. We also ensure their loyalty towards GIGABYTE.

This initiative further percolates down to the next level (T2), where our value part-ners also get the best possible deals from both Premium Partners and GIGABYTE.

We ensure channel profitability by regu-larly coming out with attractive schemes under the GIGABYTE Value Partner Program (GVPP) for Value Partners; and GIGABYTE Channel Incentive Program (GCIP) for Premium Partners.

After-sales service is another area we focus on. We recently executed an

ambitious plan of opening full-fledged GIGABYTE Exclusive Service Centers in Kolkata, Kochi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi in the last few months. These centers act as service hubs for the entire region they are based in. For example, the New Delhi center is the hub for the entire North India.

GIGABYTE’s service partner, Accel Frontline, also provides manpower support for the centers’ activities. GIGA-BYTE Exclusive Service Centers work in tandem with the company’s over 30 Special Service Partners (SSPs); over 30 Accel Care Centers (ACC); and 24 ATRs. SSPs are basically GIGABYTE Premium Partners appointed as motherboard col-lection agents. ACCs and ATRs are col-lection points and replacement centers respectively, which are part of Accel Frontline.

Through our incentive schemes, and other plans for the channel like training programs, and SI meets, we have been able to evolve a committed channel base in different regions. We conduct regular meets for SIs/value partners to educate them on how GIGABYTE motherboards are equipped to grow their business.

VINNAY SHETTY, COUNTRY HEAD, COMPONENT BUSINESS, ASUS INDIA

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V E N D O R C H A N N E L S T R A T E G I E SDEEPAK GUPTA, COUNTRY MANAGER, ZOTAC INDIA

INDRAJIT SABHARWAL, MD, SIMMTRONICS SEMICONDUCTORS BEN SU, DIRECTOR, MSI INDIA

KAREN CHEN, CHANNEL BUSINESS UNIT, ELITEGROUP COMPUTER SYSTEMS (ECS), TAIWAN

ECS is one of the top motherboards (mobo) manufac-turers. We supply high-quality and reliable products to MNC companies, which they can count on our

quality. With big capacity of manufacturing line and professional R&D team, ECS is targeting IPC market in India. ECS has shipped about 6,50,000 (OEM+channel) motherboard to India in 2012. Our market share is nearly 20%.

Now market prefers smaller size of motherboards, ECS also develops mini ITX and thin mini ITX board to fulfill this demand. Some of is from thin client and AIO requirement. ECS is going AIO PC with featured spec. Thin mini ITX, this will provide local AIO PC with ECS motherboards to increase AIO PC share in India. Also with our big capacity of manufacturing line and professional R&D team, ECS is targeting IPC market in India. ECS is focusing on middle and high-end products.

We expect channel partners and end users will realize this to try our high-end product, they will find unique fea-tures and high-performance. Also ECS high-end product will bring more margin to our channel partners.

In coming years, we may see more demand coming from mini ITX, embedded CPU solution etc. which are cost effective solution for basic computing need. Also these are power-efficient and deliver good performance to the user. Mid-high end segment will be consistent in growth as in this category cannot be replaced by tablet, laptop where customization is not possible at user level.

The desktop market has been decreasing due to the popularity of tablets and notebooks. This year, the market was stagnant as compared to the last year

as far as desktops were concerned. Having said this, the demand for graphic cards is increasing as the awareness of gaming is increasing. The demand for graphic cards majorly depends on the gaming industry in India. In India, only 2 out of 10 people have an external GPU. Slowly, awareness about the importance of GPU is increasing.

The mini PC market saw a considerable increase last year as energy-saving and compact computing devices saw a rise in demand. ZOTAC is the market leader in VGAs. We have over 50% market share when it comes to high-end graphic cards. When it comes to mid-range and low-range graphic cards, we are still the market leaders with more than 37% market share. In cities like Bengaluru, we have more than 60% market share for all the graphic cards. Last year we crossed over 1,10,000 units across India.

In the mini PC sector we do not have any major com-petition as such, so it is safe to say we have monopoly in the mini PC market. We saw a lot of institutional sales for the mini PCs last year. For graphic cards and mini PCs, the channel needs to be educated on the technical front so that they can offer a better solution to consumers. In the year 2013 we have planned to arrange training ses-sions, roadshows and various tools to provide necessary information to channel and users easily. Talking from a graphic cards perspective, the gaming sector will be very important.

day. This team educates our partners about our new technology and also feedback the users’ experience for our next innovation. Daily positive communication with channel partners enhances our understanding of the latest market situation and provide suitable sup-port as well.

MSI is the first brand to use Military Class compo-nents. Customers appreciated this innovative technol-ogy. As a leading player of this segment, we decided

not to compete with others, rather our Global Mission is to educate more users to understand more about our products.

Addition of Military Class com-ponents make a PC work in much stable condition for longer under any critical conditions. Keeping this aspect, we launched a new product in 2012, which had an overclocking certificate (OC certified) to help the overclockers/ gamers to overclock their PC freely to the maximum limit. OC Certified is MSI’s over-clocking testing procedure to guar-antee stable overclocking results. The Military Class burn-in test for OC Certified is the 24-hour Prime95 burn-in test with a liquid-cooled overclocked CPU.

cards, etc. It is the only company in the globe which manufactures components to full PCs. The company is on a major growth path and has grown over 100% last year. It has recently entered into hard disk drives. Related to memory, DDR3 will again be in market for this year.

We estimate the graphics card market to be about 30,000 units a month, or roughly one in 10 desktops sold, and this market is growing. The total market size of this industry in India is that components account for 35% of full PC sold per year. Assembly market is growing at high rate. B & C-class are playing strong roll in increasing component market of country.

Simmtronics started with manufacturing of memory modules and presently produces 50% of the IT com-ponents used in computers ie motherboards, VGA graphics card, pen drives, HDD, etc.

Strong commands on unmatched re-engineering, re-design capability, pricing advantage, strong global client base and associations with a proven track record of product and component sourcing capabilities leads to cutthroat all challenges and innovations held in PC components industry .

Simmtronics has more than 150 distributors, and over 5,000 active resellers. We have plans to increase this value to approx 300 distributors and around 10,000 active resellers in next 2 years. Ninety percent of our business is driven by channel business and 10% through OEM.

By 2014, Indian gaming services will move up the value chain with more end-to-end shoring work in terms of development services coming to India. Hence the demand should rise by 40-50%. Also, the use of graphic cards in various other industries will also play an important part, such as animation, movies, architecture, medicine, engi-neering etc. We see a bright future for graphic cards. Mini PCs will definitely be more prominent in Indian homes and offices as the work space will get too cluttered because of the flooding of tech gadgets in the coming years.

S immtronics has been growing in the components market by over 30% annually. Simmtronics man-ufactures memory, motherboards, tablets, VGA India PC components market growth rate was lower

than the usual growth rate at all quarters in 2011 because of the economic situation. MSI deals in

the mainboard and graphic card components in India majorly. Lot of competition in these categories has resulted in vendors to create unique technological inno-vations in the products offered. MSI has implemented the Military Class Components in our products, which has increased the longevity of a PC work life.

PC has become an essential product in every person’s daily activities. People get perturbed if they cannot get their PC to work smoothly. Military Class components promise the cus-tomers a hassle-free time. In past 1 year, we have success-fully extended our business to online stores , followed by co- promotions during festive seasons. These initiatives have assured a (more than) 50% y-o-y growth.

MSI is a leading company in innovation of newer technolo-gies, we maintain good com-munication with our partners. We have a team to work with our channel partners every

www.dqweek.comJan 28-Feb 3, 2013The DQ Week4 P C C O M P O N E N T S

V E N D O R C H A N N E L S T R A T E G I E S

C H A N N E L P A R T N E R S P R O F I L E

KEVAN LI, SALES AND OPERATIONS HEAD, ANTEC INDIA

RAJIV BAPNA, DIRECTOR, AMKETTE SIRIL MUTHIRAKKAL, CHANNEL SALES MANAGER, FOXCONN INDIA

AJAY KOGTA, COUNTRY MANAGER, INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, STRONTIUM TECHNOLOGY

PC component industry is changing a lot with the growth in laptops, ultrabook, tablets and smart-phones. The market preference is moving towards

these devices. There is increase in demand for sub 10,000 PCs which are still driving the demand in component industry. Increase in the demand for DDR2 memory mod-ules in this segment still persists.

Demand for portable storage devices and faster memory speed has been continuously on the rise. These products have created a huge market pull so much so that even the global slowdown could not hamper its growth story. The total Indian storage peripheral market in FY’12 has secured a good growth over the previous fiscal, clearly indicating the heavy commoditization of the devices. Need for high speed/capacity mobile devices have further improved the demand for portable storage devices. The prices of these devices have also reduced drastically. These factors are supportive enough to justify the strong growth that this product segment has witnessed in FY’12. The external hard drives are already posing serious threats to high capacity pen drives.

DDR3 is now the main stream product, and it will continue to do that for the next two to three years. It is already in the news that Samsung has already launched the DDR4 prototype. So we can expect exciting technolo-gies approaching in the DRAM arena.

For Strontium, channel loyalty is our biggest strength; a motivated channel partner is the biggest marketing cam-paign to promote a brand. We do not believe in dumping material to channel for short term gain instead believe in long term sustainable relationship with the partners.

Right now we also have a weekly newsletter for our channel partners to keep them updated with latest market situation and that helps them to manage inventory opti-mally and profitably. On the channels side we are going to keep working with our distribution partners to make the product available throughout the length and breadth of the country.

2012 has been a slower year for the PC components, not only for India but also for most of the world owing to the economic slowdown. At Antec, we

have achieved some growth compared to the previous year. It was expected to touch 12.6 mn PC shipments in 2012, and we are expecting a better growth for 2013 with the new Windows 8 launch and a better economic condition worldwide. Apart from that, we are also seeing a trend transition in the desktop PC market where end users are gaining awareness towards a quality SMPS and cabinets to save electricity bills, to have enhanced protection for their other expensive components and to have better cooling efficiencies to significantly improve the performance of the PC.

Our main products are computer casing and power supplies for the high performance, DIY market and gaming segment. Users are gaining better awareness on environment-friendly computing practices by decreas-ing heat from the PC and saving electricity with the use of efficient power supply. We even see government promoting this concept in various states to take part in saving the planet from global warming.

We treat all type of partners, whether direct distribu-tors or indirect partners, resellers and dealers, with equal importance. Our local team usually visits each level and conducts training and education to ensure they provide correct information to their clients and are also able to provide value-added services through sufficient knowledge of the products and trends. We also ensure that partners have sufficient margins, for a long-term business relationship, and not face any conflict.

We are constantly evolving our product lineups to include better reliability, efficiency and capability to satisfy more customer demands in the PC computing space. Our focus on ‘Go Green Commitment’ allows us to bring to the table newer product technologies that constantly strive to save energy and reduce electricity consumption.

Assembled market is going through a tough phase due to the shear restriction in the RoI offering. Foxconn has wide range of embed-

ded/miniITX solutions MBs on Intel and AMD plat-forms. For our motherboard business, we follow rig-orous channel activities and spending are required to keep the partners attached to our business.

India happens to be the major market where IT spending growth will be on a steep fashion. The 15% growth of PC components market is directly proportional to desktop market. The desktop market grew from 2011 to 2012 around 6%. Yet to figure out that 2013 projected JFM sales, which may result in 2012 fiscal year figure to close with 8% growth on desktop sales.

Chipset makers tend to bring innovations on embedded and miniITX solutions. Uptren of AIO in tenders and projects also helps Mini ITX MBs grow. Moreover, the demand rise of graphic card business in India affirms the upward trend of gam-ing and motherboards coming from top 75 cities which reveals that upcountry markets are gaining the business in bigger way.

The year has seen an overall downward trend of the PC components industry. A major reason for this decline can be attributed to the drop in the

sales of desktops. But parallelly there has been a robust growth in the replacement market for PC peripher-als. Within this category itself, we have witnessed an upward graph for premium peripherals like wireless desktops, wireless mouse, bluetooth keyboard, and HD webcam.

We at Amkette distribute our products using our network of over 6,000 channel partners in 110 cities. We have a strong network of over 500 distributors. To drive the momentum in the market, we innovate and devise new channel schemes from time to time.

From a storage pioneer, Amkette has diversified into a digital products company with a range of 150 prod-ucts encompassing 15 categories, including Evo TV, web cameras, wireless keyboards, etc. By incorporating strong elements of design and meaningful innovation, the brand is competing with global peripheral device manufacturers. Amkette is one of the two leading brands in wireless peripherals, premium peripherals, hubs and card readers.

Venktron Digital Systems has been operating in the industry for more than two decades and is one of the leading distributors of the western region.

Its entire revenue comes from the distribution and sales business. In the last fiscal, the company’s overall revenue dropped by `13 crore.

The distributor had a tumultuous year wherein its financials dropped and faced an import related issue with Dell. In the latter case, it went in the favor of the distributor as the commissioner of customs, Mumbai, directed Dell India to compensate the distributor by paying demurrage and warehousing charge.

On the business front, the company is gearing up and is now strategizing to get back in the groove. The distributor has a significant pan-India presence with more than 15 direct branches and tie ups with more than 200 dealers. The vendor has plans to further enhance its presence across the country. The distributor is working out plans to expand its channel network by the end of this fiscal and the focus region would be on B, C, and D-class cities. As of today, the majority of its revenues come from western and southern India which accounts for more than 60%. The company also has plans to add more products to its existing portfolio. In the last fiscal, the distributor added Iomega products to its portfolio with rights to sell it across India.

Venktron’s clientele consists of well known dealers in IT Industry, corporate, educational institutions and government enterprises apart from end users from all over the country. The distribution firm is working out strategies to aid its plan to further expand its national footprint to cover all urban centers in India by establish-ing more branches and creating suitable partnerships. However, the new additions would be purely based on industry demands.

MEGA COMPU WORLDVENKTRON DIGITAL SYSTEMS

Bengaluru based Mega Compu World provides IT products to both end users and corporate sectors. It has become one the preferred computer whole

sellers for many consumers in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. It also sells hardware of well-established brands. As more and more investments were made by small and medium companies, Mega Compu World strategically continued to develop and provide the technological capability to deliver a full range of leading computer gadgets and services to meet the market needs.

The company tied up with several brands ranging from Intel, LG, Seagate, Logitech, Acer, HP, to Sony. It believes in customer-friendly approach and so maintains an updated website where a visitor can get relevant infor-mation of products dealt with. The fiscal, termed ‘good’ by the partner, has witnessed key sales in Seagate, Intel, LG, and Dell products. However, the existing list of products has been kept unaltered .

Online business turned out a major challenge for the partner. It has posed a threat to the business of retailers in Bengaluru. With branches in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, Mega Compu World has planned to concentrate more on laptop business. The component business was slowly seeing an ‘upside down’ growth and only business with big brands was helping in the competition. Some of the key brands the partner has tied up with are Intel, LG, APC, HP, Acer, AMD, Samsung, Sony, and Logitech.

ELCOM TRADING COMPANY

While 70% and 15% of Elcom’s revenue came from dealer busi ness and retail business, respect ively, the remaining 15% came from IT/

ITeS, telecom, system integration, and SMB sales. While consistent growth across quarters was the cornerstone of its existence, the company has never lost the warmth and personal touch in the relationship that it nurtured in its 19 years of existence. And that is why today, Elcom is a name to reckon with and has around 200 active channel partners from more than 2,000 registered with the company.

Earlier, the company’s focus was on component busi-ness that used to contribute around 60% of the total rev-enue, but in the last couple of years, it has shifted towards branded products (which earlier used to contribute 40%). Apparently, around 60% of the overall revenue comes from branded ones. The rest 40% revenue comes from the component business. However, Elcom is working very closely with Intel to revive the component and assembled market in the country. The company’s 100% revenue comes from the North region. In its success story, Lenovo contributed 35% of the company’s overall revenue in the last FY, Acer laptops contributed 10%, HP laptops 10%, and Dell Vostro contributed 5%. The major revenue comes from the exclusive distributorship of Lenovo ThinkPad and ThinkCenter in Delhi NCR region.

Last year, Elcom has also started offering complete end-to-end solution set to the corporate sector. The company had also bagged a major highway project, Yamuna Expressway, last year. In the last fiscal, it had added IBM servers in its portfolio of products, which it believes will also become a major contributor in its overall growth journey.

SUPREME TECHNOLOGIES

Marking its second appearance in the Gold Club (formerly Silver Club), Supreme Technologies (ST) has evolved into a full-fledged regional

distributor with all major vendors in its kitty besides its unrelenting force in the retail segment.

With aggregate revenue of ̀ 142 crore in the last FY, the company has underwent a drastic change internally mak-ing its distribution and retail wings as separate entities. The growth, however, for the company seemed to have stagnated this financial year as the company only grew by `2 crore in the last financial year. Partly, it was the result of the internal changes with company’s assets and liabilities being shared amidst the retail, solutions and distribution wing and partially because of the growing stagnation with peripherals in the eastern market.

FY12 saw Supreme Technologies banking heavily on peripherals which accounted for an estimated 62% of its consolidated revenues in distribution. This was the natu-ral outcome for the partner which was handling almost all major vendors across all categories. With the major players like HP, Samsung, Dell focusing on strengthening their regional distribution, Supreme Technologies is hopeful about making most from this evolving market strategy.

Even in FY10, it was nominated as a regional distributor for Dell and Sony in West Bengal. The increasing retail focus by Supreme translated into the home segment contributing nearly 74% of its revenues. Supreme Tech-nologies was incorporated in the year 1995 with the sole objective of providing complete IT range of quality prod-ucts and services in and around the city of joy.

Ajaykumar Singhania

Mahendra baid

Somesh NarangVinay Dugar

P C C O M P O N E N T Swww.dqweek.comJan 28-Feb 3, 2013

The DQ Week 5

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