Accton engages Agrani for retail initiative

Accton Technology India has tied up with Agrani for its off-the-shelf retail

products like modems, routers, mobile and PDA chargers. Accton expects 15 to 20

percent of its business to come from retail sales this year.

Says Ang Ah Sin, VP-Strategic Marketing, Accton Technology, "Agrani has

a large number of retail outlets. Since we wanted widespread reach for our

products, it made sense to tie up with Agrani." He added that Accton would

evaluate the business generated by Agrani and would then decide whether to

engage other retail outlets for the same products.

Accton has also conceptualized the Certified Accton Reseller (CAR) program

and hopes to launch it in India by mid-2002. Additionally, the company has plans

to increase its branding budget for the current fiscal. It is also changing the

entire packaging of its products in June 2002. Says Ang, "We want our

products to stand out on a shelf and are therefore implementing an

across-the-board packaging change."

The company is concentrating on telcos and ISPs for its latest VOIP products,

which werelaunched in April. It is trying to tie up with partners who are

proactive in these segments.

Vinita Bhatia, MUMBAI