"We are currently looking for more distributors in major cities for our DRAM modules"

Apacer has signed distribution tie-ups with Jupiter International and
Silicon Impex, but it feels the need to appoint more distributor especially in
the bigger cities. Steve Ku believes that once the company has a wider channel
base, it will be able to grow its business exponentially

Apacer opened a Bangalore office just two months ago. Don't you think you
have been a bit late in entering the Indian market?

Yes, Apacer opened a branch office in Bangalore in March 2007. I don't think
we are late in entering Indian market. In fact, we have entered India as per our
plans, at the right time when the country's economy is booming and all the
markets growing.

What are your plans for growing the business of memory modules and digital
storage in India?

Apacer aims at taking root in length and breadth of India. We have partnered
with Jupiter International Ltd (JIL) and Silicon Impex as our national
distributors. USB flash drives and flash cards are distributed across India by
JIL's channel. Silicon Impex's channel distributes the DRAM modules. To serve
more people, we are currently looking for more distributors in major cities for
DRAM modules.

To provide the right memory modules and digital storage devices to all Indian
users, we are always willing to learn what people here need and expect from
storage products. Through the channel, we offer products to fulfill the needs of
different segments

Steve Ku Product Manager-India, Apacer Technology

Every vendor talks about matching user needs. How is Apacer putting these
words into action?

Apacer USB drives can be segmented as entry, mid and high-end level to fulfill
different needs. Entry-level and mid-level are for general storage use; high-end
level is for professionals or people who require fast speed and high performance
in the process of storage.

In addition to the quality and performance of the USB drives, Apacer focuses
on its design as well. We believe that beside the storage function and product
quality that Indian users require, design is also important which can bring a
new look and new value-added functions to the users.

We design a series of USB drives that target specific groups such as women,
to be used as a fashion accessory and businessmen as a status symbol. The USB
AH320, which is currently being sold across India, has an added value to it -
the Apacer Compression Explorer (ACE) that allows users to store up to five
times its capacity. This means that while buying a 2GB AH320, users can get up
to 10GB capacity depending on the file formats.

What are your plans for the Indian channel?

Apacer will have a regional distribution set-up for DRAM business in India for
the I-

storage that includes pen drive, MP3 and MP4, flash card, and will have national
distributor to have our product available through the channel in India made.

It was stated that with the Bangalore office, Apacer would strengthen its
local marketing and RMA (return material authorization) service and support in
India. How do you propose to do this?

We have opened our office in Bangalore to be close to the market and provide
the products and services as per the requirements of the market. For us, the
first stage is to establish the channel base to make our full range of products
available to the customers and in the second stage, we plan to open
service/repair centers in India. Till then, these services will be provided
through Apacer partners.

For memories, what is the percentage of business coming through the
channel vis-a-vis OEMs?

We have equal focus on both channel as well as OEMs. Presently, we are
working closely with all major OEMs in India. When it comes to the channel, we
have appointed Silicon Impex as our regional distributor. The distributor is
based in Delhi and will cover to North India

Besides flash cards and USB drives, which other consumer products will you
add next to your product portfolio?

Apacer's product range includes DRAM module support for servers, desktops,
laptops, for embedded markets, and for gaming markets. Our goal is to expand
into consumer products such as USB drive, flash cards, MP3 and MP4 players and
card readers as well

What are your plans for the burgeoning retail industry?

First of all, we will get our channel network in place as a strong channel
network can let consumers see Apacer products easily in retail markets across
India. Good quality products and services, reasonable prices, innovative
designs, long-term commitments to customers combined with marketing promotions
are all in our strategy to compete in the burgeoning retail market.

Apacer has conducted a series of quality assurance methods to ensure the
quality of each product. These systems are like CQS, CLCA quality feedback
system, production performance and stretched test, and compatibility and ORT
reliability test. All Apacer products also follow RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous
Substances) directive.

We also plan to do lots of marketing promotions like roadshows, exhibitions,
marketing activities and reseller meetings.

Have you outlined your plans to educate the channel about the
opportunities in the digital storage and mobile accessories market?

Many factors have given the storage industry a wonderful opportunity to grow
up and bring more benefits to consumers. Take Microsoft Vista as an example, we
had foreseen the great impact which would have on consumers in their daily
lives. Portable storage devices such as USB drive and flash cards contribute
fast speed and great performance in a Vista system and are therefore playing an
important role.

Today people care more about a quality life than what they used do earlier.
They choose products for fun, for practicability, for the lightweight and small
size, or even as a symbol or part of their accessories.

There are great opportunities for channels carrying Apacer MP3, MP4, USB and
flash cards for digital storage and mobile accessories market.

What is the channel program you plan to announce shortly?

We got good and useful response from the roadshows, which we conducted in
seven major cities in May 2007. We are happy to say that we are planning to
launch reseller schemes/ campaigns in Q3 and Q4 of this year.

VINITA BHATIA

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in

Apacer displayed its latest innovations during computex 2007

Memory module maker Apacer Technology announced the launch of high-level DDR3
that offers support to the Intel Bearlake desktop chipset. Though Intel
officially announced in June 2007 the Bearlake chipset for desktop with DDR3
support, the motherboard manufacturer has already certified the compatibility of
the DDR3 range from Apacer.

In addition to the DDR3 1066/1333 models, Apacer announced the world's first
DDR3-1600MHz overclocking module, which will be the world's fastest overclocking
module from Apacer after the DDR2-1200+.

The DDR3 for desktop delivers more advantages as compared to the DDR2. It is
equipped with the 8-bit prefetch design, with a computing speed of 800-1600MHz,
which doubles the DDR2 using the 4-bit prefetch design with a computing speed of
400-800MHz. The voltage of DDR3 is controlled at 1.5V, which saves more energy
than the DDR2 at 1.8V. The automatic self-refresh design is applied to the DDR3
to lower the die temperature by reducing the refreshing frequency without
sacrificing data transfer reliability. When comparing the DDR3-800, DDR3-1066
and DDR3-1333 with the DDR2-800, the average power consumption of the DDR3
module is reduced by 25 percent, 20 percent and 40 percent respectively.