3RD ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Recent Eye-Catchers In Channel Space

COMPANIES AMD Amazes AMD rolled out simple yet innovative schemes for its partners once the channel network was put in place. Its retail initiatives along with tie-ups with Indian OEMs helped AMD grab market share from Intel. New HP’s New Horizons The establishment of the new HP came as a big relief to partners. They were on tenterhooks for several months because the merger news and the resultant uncertainties had come when business was going through a rough weather Roadshow Rhapsody Vendors took to roadshows in a big way during 2001-02. Roadshows helped vendors create demand when purchase decisions were put on a hold. Sales did not result immediately but brand awareness increased in leaps and bounds. Zestful Zenith By establishing 127 Zenith PC World stores in 121 cities Zenith Computers has ensured that its retail reach is the envy of MNCs and other Indian PC vendors. D-Link Dominates Under the leadership of KR Naik, D-Link’s domination continued with its entry into the capital market and tie-up with Gigabyte to enter the motherboard segment. WINning XPerience A high-profile launch at multiple locations across the country followed by an aggressive ad campaign created the necessary hype around Windows XP. BRANDS Cisco Strides Economic slowdown did not put major breaks on the Cisco brand whose routers were in good demand. The 100 percent channel model gave it an ideal reach. Credible Connoi By entering the notebook and slimtop segments, Connoi, as a brand, has a broader product offering. It is exploring market potential in OEM and government segments. Advancing Adcom Advantage computers spent a great deal of its energy in building the Adcom brand. With results beginning to show in the channel space, Adcom is now going retail. Sony Shines Sony’s peripheral business registered a two-digit marketshare growth last fiscal. Reasons: aggressive pricing strategy and tie-up with Rashi Peripherals. APC Is Applauded In an overpopulated UPS market, the APC brand has been applauded by partners and customers alike for quality and reliability. Bet On Benq With the re-branding process of Acer Communications and Multimedia into Benq almost complete, the company is focusing on brand consolidation for the current fiscal PRODUCTS Pleasing Printers HP continued its domination in the printer market with one out of every two printers sold belonging to its 656 stable. Canon too stepped up its efforts commanding 18 percent marketshare in the home segment, with an undivided focus on the BJC 2100SP. Motherboard Magic With 30 percent marketshare, Kobian’s Mercury managed to carve a niche in the crowded motherboard market. When it comes to high-end boards, Intel and Asus lead. Superlative Samtron Despite an extremely competitive environment, Samsung’s 15-inch monitors enjoyed a good brand recall both among the channel and customers. Security Sells Even in dull market conditions, products in the e-security segment continued to be in great demand. Symantec, Computer Associates, Network Associates and Trend Micro ruled the roost. Outstanding ODDs The optical disk drive (ODD) market, including CDROM and CDRW, moved at a good pace last year. Despite many brands competing in this segment, Samsung’s 52x CDROM model was the most commonly heard name among channel partners. Super Servers Breakthrough technology, affordability and service has placed IBM high in the Indian server space. And its eServers not just sold on these counts but also managed an edge because of its pricing Soaring Seagate A robust product with effective strategies to bond with partners and end-customers have helped Seagate to ensure healthy growth for its hard disks. Powerware Prevails With unique feature offerings, Powerware’s PW 5150 UPS made its mark within a short span of time. It contri-buted substantially to the company’s 60 percent growth. EVENTS Showcase Showtime Ingram’s success with Showcase, ensured that partners flocked to the event with expectations of special offers and discounts. Intel Inspires GIDs in APAC will remember Intel’s fifth Solutions Summit at Shanghai fondly because their initiatives for furthering Intel’s business were given a big boost. Rashi’s Ruse! High-performing partners were rewarded with a cruise by Rashi in November 2001 making it a memorable channel event. TOMORROW'S TRENDS Tomorrow’s Trends What would catch the eyes of partners in 2002 and beyond? DQCI presents a brief list of trends in products and technologies.

On the occasion of the third anniversary of DQ Channels India, we feature the

recent eye-catchers in channel space–companies, brands, products and events–for

their persistence and perseverance in the face of bad market conditions.

We feature the eye-catchers not only for their Net performance, but also for

the very reasons that they were in the limelight affecting the day-to-day

business of partners during the year that has gone by.

Take the case of new HP for instance. The performance of pre-merger HP

and Compaq may not be much to rave about. But the establishment of the new HP

brought much relief to partners who were otherwise besotted with uncertainties

for a long period. On the other hand, AMD mar-ched confidently ahead

grabbing market share from Intel, D-Link with its IPO and tie-up with Gigabyte

entered the motherboard segment with a bang and Zenith became the envy of its

competitors by its retail reach.

When demand takes a dive, marketers want to create it with hype and

hoopla. So roadshows became the talk of the town in the past year with vendors

reaching out to B and C-class cities in great numbers. We feature those

companies who rode high with roadshows.

Branding becomes an important exercise to establish one’s products firmly

in the marketplace. Bangalore-based Connoi and Delhi-based Adcom made noteworthy

efforts to set themselves among partners with a fair measure of success.

Among MNC brands, Acer became Benq and quickly made inroads to partners’

mindshare. APC and Cisco continued their reign in UPSs and networking products

respectively.

The choice of eye-catching products during the year that has gone by was a

tough task. While in some categories, there were clear winners, among others we

have featured more than one to do justice to the majority of products which

brought moolah to partners.

So, we have monitors from Samsung; printers from HP and Cannon;

motherboards from Mercury, Intel and Asus; hardisks from Seagate; UPSs from

Powerware; CDROM drives from Samsung and CD-writers from LG and Benq; servers

from IBM; and security products from CA, Symantec, Trend Micro and Network

Associates, that moved fast among the channel.

Events play a major role in capturing the partner mindshare. Hence,

vendors and distributors alike tend to organize unique events. Those that caught

the eyes of the channel last year include, Rashi’s cruise, Ingram’s

Showcase, Intel’s Shanghai meet and Microsoft’s XP launch.

Presenting the eye-catchers and leaving it at that, we thought, would

not complete the circle. Partners would be keen to know what would be in the

limelight during 2002 and beyond. So, in a small space, we have featured trends

for the coming months and years.

The following pages bring you the recent eye-catchers in channel space and

much more...

DQCI TEAM