“We are looking at the reseller strategy, to have more personal contact”

A late entry into the burgeoning structured cabling market of India has

not fazed US-based Nexans, which has just signed Rashi Peripherals as its

national distributor. It is confident that since it has the patent for Cat 7

cables, this will work as a charm for network integrators, seeking an upgraded

version of Cat 6

Do you think one distributor will be adequate in addressing a large

geography like India?



We took a considerable time in looking for what we believe was the best

channel in India to support our business. We had two major issues.

One, we needed a distributor who could cover the entire country as India is

an enormous country that has a lot of different regional specificities. Rashi

Peripherals has 53 branch locations across India. They are among the few

companies we believed who could meet the logistics need of the country.

Secondly, Nexans is a relatively new entrant into the country and we wanted

to work with a company who could put the right focus onto the business. Instead

of a multi-brand channel, we wanted to work with a single-brand channel.

How big is the Indian market in terms of passive networking products?

Where do you see Nexaus fitting into it?



The Indian passive networking market is somewhere between $150 to 160

million. The market is growing fast and we have figures between 30 to 40 percent

of annual growth rate. We have decided to enter the market with our day-to-day

product portfolio.

Mark Rogers GM, Nexans

However, we do have other ambitions as well, with regards to some higher-end

solutions, particularly 10GB solutions, our category 7 solutions, where we have

a unique position as the holder of the intellectual property for that particular

product, and also for intelligent cabling systems. This type of promotion will

probably take a longer period. Our target is to capture 10 percent of the

marketshare within the next three to five years period.

Who do you see as your competitor? How do you plan to distinguish your

products?



The two major players are Systemax and Tyco. We also have a strong Indian

player in D-Link. Between these three, we have a significant amount of the

market. In addition, virtually all of the international players are here. Nexans

is used to this type of international competition, and we have been successful

in markets where these compe­titors are already present.

With the day-to-day products that we are launching into the market, we are

looking to provide a quality, cost-competitive solution that we can sell to the

end-user. The feedback we have got is that some of the market leaders are taking

advantage of certain positions that they have in the market and are trying to

stretch themselves, both from very high-end to very low-end, which is causing

some confusion in the market.

So we think that there is an opportunity to position our product and enter

the market with quality at good cost while at the same time differentiating

ourselves in terms of our higher-end products.

What is the profile of partners that you plan to sign? Are you looking at

a wide network of partners or do you propose to work with a few?



We have already made a decision to work with Rashi as our channel partner in

India and are now looking at system integra­tors who can help us deliver

complete projects to end-users.

In future, I see two levels-when you come to system integrators who can

develop major corporate, we are looking at a more select group of companies whom

we will work with. On a day-to-day level, we are looking for a larger number who

will work with us on our essential brand.

Which verticals are you targeting and why?



From a high-end solution perspective, we are looking at corporate markets

where we have a good penetration world across also. We already have some

customers who are asking for our support here in India. One of the areas, which

are showing large growth in India, is the retail-cum-residential development;

where we have a good experience worldwide and we see that as an opportunity as

we create relationships with major building companies. In addition, the IT

sector is doing well in many centers across India; this is an area, which a lot

of our competitors are targeting, but we still believe we can achieve some

success here too.

Being a late entrant, Nexans is not a well-known brand in India. Also, you

have competitors like D-Link. What do you propose to do about this?

There is no magic in gaining brand recognition. We need to have people on

the street, we need infrastructure, and also we need to get established in the

market, so that people can see that we are a company who has an infrastructure

that they can believe in. We have to do activities in terms of face to face, in

terms of broad marketing-both web-based and also in publications. In addition,

Nexans has a strategy to piggyback on the basis of more general Nexans'

awareness strategy that may come in the future. As of today, we are looking at

the reseller strategy, to have more personal contact. While at the same time, we

will be carrying out broad marketing activities.

Why is Nexans only pushing low-end products into the Indian market? Any

plans for bringing high-end products too?



The day-to-day products are available through the market. We believe that we

have the price and quality mix correct. We will have sales people who will be

working directly with the IT managers and consultants to make them aware of our

higher-end solutions. We hope to gain some confidence from the market and then

use that as a springboard to promote our solutions.

RAVISH KHAPRA



ravishk@cybermedia.co.in