New Delhi
May 15, 2008

Given the rising IT business opportunity in India, several brands of keyboard, mouse and UPS entered the market with enthusiasm, but slowly retreated after the initial euphoria wore out. Often, they vanish as if they had never existed.

These brands foray into the market without any proper planning and in some cases they are in search of immediate profits. The motive is to make the most out of the slightest opportunity, which is why they try to ape the known brands in this space. The moment they start losing money they run away from the scene leaving behind several unheard claims, unattended and dissatisfied customers apart from furious dealers and distributors.

Ever wondered why these fly by night brands fail to make a mark? An obvious answer would be because of steep competition and inferior quality of products. But there is more than just competition and quality that forces them to withdraw from the market.

According to Amit Kumar Kedia of Delhi-based Tech-Com brand of products almost every one now dabbles into import and due to lack of good planning, they flop. “Companies don't do any proper planning, and enter into the market in a disorganized way,” he noted. He further added that these companies fail to understand that there are several legal implications that have to be adhered to and a strong framework has to be drawn in order to sustain and flourish at a later stage.

Peripherals, the easiest route
Apparently this practice of getting into business one day and getting out the other is rampant in peripheral markets, including keyboards, mice, speakers and UPS. It is easier to get into this space as a high technical expertise or market research is not required to design these products. But this business is not easy to sustain either.

Brands like F-Line, Annie, Advik were such brands, which were in the market and catered to a large chunk of SOHO customers. Today only a few of the dealers are aware of them.

“Such brands are nothing but imported material from countries like China and Taiwan and all they needed to do is sticker a fancy name to sell the product and further it in the market. They calculate rough margins and almost overlook the warehousing cost,” said a dealer who was earlier selling one of these brands.

The idea basically is to sell a variety of goods to get maximum revenues. They essentially sell in volumes and the entire business model is designed to boost sales. In a nutshell these brands don't want to struggle and adopt the 'wait and watch mode' in their bid to survive in the market.

Aditya Vikram, owner of Delhi-based Compware and Advik brand of peripherals, however denied that Advik has been withdrawn from the market. “Advik is in the market and we are looking to add networking products under the same brand name.” But he did agree that there has been a change in the strategy when it came to selling Advik products. “The company was trying to revamp the way it has been functioning and hence the rumors may have been very well the result of the same,” Vikram mentioned.

In Panipat region, companies like Adcom, Ankit (peripheral brands) were till sometime back actively present in the market. But all of a sudden these brands have ceased to exist.

Ajay Singla, President, Panipat Computer Dealer's Association clarified, “There have been many such brands and companies that approach dealers in the upcountry location thinking that we are easily approachable and leave behind stocks that later becomes difficult to liquidate.”

Products that are prime game
The UPS industry is another such segment that has a huge scope for the lesser renowned companies to try their hands at. It is the SOHO market where these not so popular brands try to make money. They offer lucrative prices to the dealers who are not making any margins in the entry-level UPS category. Under such circumstances, a dealer is bound to fall into the trap of a company.

Alok Jain, CEO, Arihant Powertronics stated, “It is only in online UPS and offline UPS for the enterprise category that dealers like us earn handsome margins. In the entry-level UPS that is meant for the SOHO segment, the margin is almost negligible unless we sell in volumes.”

Brands like Pioneer, Intelligent or Power link among others that had been operating in the market some years back are nowhere to be found. Solus was yet another brand that disappeared from the Panipat region.

Motherboards are yet another category where many companies offer cheaper options to a market that is not looking to shell out a huge sums for a defunct motherboard.

Brands like Omaxe, Mora had motherboards to cater to the replacement market and assembled PC sellers. These brands at one point in time were present at most IT hubs but have now faded, leaving behind clueless customers and system integrators.

Page(s)   1  2