''Our key challenges are to increase awareness about our product range and enhance the acceptability of these notebooks'' 

Getting the Note PCs into smaller markets and building a good brand recall

for Samsung in this product line is Ramanjeet's prime objective. He is

especially keen on promoting the Trusted Platform Module technology, which will

be introduced by the end of this quarter, in Note PCs. This feature helps users

to trace out whether their data has been hacked by someone.

What challenges do you foresee for Samsung to gain marketshare in India?



For any latecomer in the market, there are negative and positive points. The

pros are that we can learn from the experiences and case studies available in

the market and thus focus as per market's needs. There are many challenges

ahead of us to gain momentum in the notebook market. At one point, low awareness

about our Note PCs in the market was a big challenge. To increase awareness

about our product range and enhance the acceptability of these notebooks are

some challenges we are aggressively working on.

What USPs do Note PCs offer to customers that will help it gain this

marketshare?



We are offering unique features through the Note PCs range. It is the

thinnest and lightest notebook in the market. We have specialized products for

various customer segments. There is a complete range of note PCs ranging for

life style customers to entry level customers. Series X is for the lifestyle

range of customers, where we are offering the lightest and thinnest notebook.

The Series P is targeted at the corporate segment and is known as a

multifunctional notebook. Series Q will attract senior management officials and

travelers who require a low-weight notebook. Finally, there is Series M, which

has a wide screen, AV portability and more enhanced resolution capacity. Through

this series, we are targeting doctors, architects and gamers. Apart from this,

we are offering a comprehensive three-year warranty support to customers.

What is the present market scenario in India and how Samsung is positioned

in it?



The notebook market in India is evolving. As per IDC's predictions, the

notebook market is expected to go up to 3,00,000 in terms of volumes by the end

of fiscal 2005. However, IDC showed that around 1,60,000 notebooks were sold in

2004.

The ratio between PCs and notebooks is 1:12. But nevertheless, the Indian

market is expecting a growth of 100% in the notebook market. Market segments are

categorized as price sensitive, technology savvy, enthusiasts-customer's

segment and corporate. Samsung caters to all these segments.

In

terms of market share, as per IDC's report, Samsung is among the top six

players of the Indian notebook market. We have 5% market share of the notebook

market and are targeting to expand it to 10% by the end of the current fiscal.

What is your strategy for channel expansion? How many partners will you

are add to your network this fiscal?



At present, we have around 150 channel partners covering all regions in the

country. We will increase this to 400 by the end of this fiscal. We have a very

clear channel strategy in place. Our Note PCs will be distributed in the market

through two channels, consumer retail channels and conventional IT channels. For

IT channels, we have three categories - silver, gold and platinum partners. By

the end of 2005, we are targeting to expand our service center locations to 45

cities.

Do you have any exclusive focus on building relations with system

integrators and solution providers, as they are considered a huge potential for

business?



Yes, synergy with SIs and VARs is crucial for our business. We are dedicated

towards strengthening our relations with SIs. Currently, we have 20 of them as

our partners and are spread in eight locations across India. We plan to have 40

SIs as partners by the end of this fiscal.

What new features will you offer in your products in the near future?



Note PCs have the Biometric security solutions. Now we are planning new

things like Trusted Platform Module (TPM) enabled Note PCs. Through TPM

technology, the user can easily trace out whether his data is hacked by someone

or not. It allows hardware lock and transfer of data through a very secured

path. We will introduce this feature by the end of this quarter.

FAIZ ASKARI