Upcountry partners unhappy with Kingston

AMRITA TEJASVI

NEW DELHI

APRIL 27, 2007

Kingston Technology is predisposed to make a smart move in the Indian market
in order to become a favorite brand among the end-customers. The company has
unwrapped its strategies to expand its presence in the entire spectrum of the
country, ranging from metros to B and C class cities.

Kingston wants to achieve a status where customers prefer only it while
purchasing any memory product. In order to reach that scale, Kingston is
planning to recruit more channel partners in the next couple of months across
the country that will be done through its distributor.

The company has also planned to come up with channel schemes that would be
aimed to drive sales across the country. It is also strengthening its services
and support level.

Value added benefits of existing channel partners might not be monetary based
but they could be of various aspect such as it would give good impression to
their entire portfolio and concrete business experience, expressed Rajesh
Panicker, Country Manager, Kingston Technology.

When DQ Channels spoke to channel partners about this announcement in metros
and in upcountries, they had different notes of expression. Partners in metros
were enthusiastic with the companys announcement and stated that it is already a
preferred brand among customers in big cities.

Whereas partners in upcoming had different opinion on companys approach and
came across with various issues they face in relation to services offered. They
raised their voice that Kingston might become number one for its brand but its
support to channel partners in B and C class cities are not up to the mark.

Highlighting on the matter, Vipul Garg, Director of Agra based Expert
Solutions said, Kingston need to revamp its policy that it offers to its channel
partners. For instance, there is no representative of Kingston in my region and
we do not get any support when needed. Brand is good but they are not bothered
about channels. If the company is promising to offer any support then it should
be visible to all partners.

Sanjay Langer, Director of Jammu based AGM Sales Corporation raised same
issues and expressed that he has been dealing with Kingston for the last two to
three years but till now there has been no interaction with the company. He also
stated that the service and support level of the company for channel partners is
very poor in his region.

In Bhopal, partners stated that Kingston products are not very much in demand
and hence the sale is low in comparison to other brands.

As far as service and support provided by Kingston is concerned, it is worst
in the market. There is no certainty in prices and replacement in also bad. I
believe that Kingston need to first improvise its level of support and then go
for expansion in upcountries, said GS Chhabra, Director of Indore based Byte
Peripherals Systems.

According to channel partners in Himachal Pradesh, they used to deal with
Kingston but since there is no service and support center in the entire state
they had to rush to Chandigarh for each and every problem and hence they have
stopped dealing with the brand.

Surinder Singh, Proprietor of Chandigarh based KS Trading company expressed
that for service and support Kingston has a very complicated procedure for which
customers show their dissatisfaction.

If you have any problem, Kingston first asks to register through a toll free
number that gives a registration number which is then taken to the company for
any service of the product. Customers find this a very tedious task and complain
us for every issue. According to me, the service level of the company is zero,
pointed Singh.

Rohit Kohli, CEO of Kanpur-based Comexcell Technologies also expressed with
same not that service level of Kingston is not very good and need fair
restructuring.

Responding to the issues faced by partners, Kingston justified that as a
channel driven company with clearly defined policies, it is in constant touch
with all its partners and advise them regularly on various channel related
issues including supply-chain management.

We have appointed numerous distributors in India to supply our products to
our reseller partners across major metros as well as in B and C class like
Jammu, Agra, Kota, Jalandhar, Nasik, etc, clarified Panicker.

Kingston further justified that reseller partners keen on seeking solutions
of their grievances are always invited to get in touch through its website,
mails and toll free number.