HiTA concentrates on niche segments for UPS sale

Kolkata-based HiTA Technology has decided to concentrate on niche markets for
its HiTA brand of UPS. It has identified verticals like photo printing
companies, medical institutions, and banks, amongst others for its 3KVA and
above range of power solution products.

One reason for this decision of HiTA is because the margins exist only in
higher-end UPS and not the entry-level ones. Also, these segments prefer buying
UPS for their mission-critical machines, only after running some benchmarking
tests. "We can prove the technical superiority of our product during these
test rounds, as our UPS support has voltage mentioned on the box, unlike other
companies," claims Arun Ghosh, MD, HiTA Technology. While HiTA sells its
high-end UPS to niche verticals directly, the sub-3KVA products are sold through
its 45 partners nationally.

The UPS company is also planning to go public in 2005, to raise funds for its
geographical expansion. A Taiwanese company has already approached HiTA to
financially back its business initiatives, though nothing has been signed on
paper yet. The company registered a turnover of Rs 12 crore last fiscal and is
targeting Rs 25 crore in 2004-05.

D-Link celetrates 10 successful years On the weekend of November 6-7, networking major D-Link India Ltd celebrated its 10th anniversary with a mega-event at its factory in Goa, where it invited every India employee and family, apart from channel partners, media, guests from D-Link Corp Taiwan (including Chairman Ken Kao), and other associates. D-Link India, a joint venture headed by KR Naik, manufactures network equipment and structured cabling products, as well as PC motherboards. Globally, the $ 728 million corporation is emerging strong in the consumer space with a focus on wireless and broadband.

The company started a solution division called Digital Data Systems in 2000,
to make inroads into the IT business as well. An IBM partner, this division
concentrates on turnkey projects and is already contributing 10% to HiTA's
overall revenues.

Started in 1997, HiTA earlier collaborated with Tata Liebert, which was later
discontinued. It is also an OEM manufacturer for several companies, and this
business contributes 45% to its overall revenues. Talking about the future of
the UPS market, Arun Ghosh said that Indian manufacturers are a dying breed, as
the price differences between MNCs and local brands are steadily coming down.
"Most local manufacturers simply import knocked-down components from
Taiwan, assemble them in India and sell them under their brand name. But with
the duties coming down, this is no longer a lucrative business, especially in
the entry- and mid-level products," he added. Also the supply chain for
these components is not organized, which means that spare parts are not always
available.

VINITA BHATIA

KOLKATA