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Ruth Samson
New Delhi
September 19th, 2007
Having marked an entry in to the Indian market, Plustek is now raring to
leverage on the potential here. Karen Ku shared plans on their strategy for
India and the importance of B- and C-class markets in their scheme of things.
What are some of the plans on the anvil for the Indian market?
India, as a market for imaging and communication products, holds a lot of
potential for Plustek. Having established our presence through our distributor
first, we set-up direct operations and appointed a country manager to further
enhance our business interests. We intend to introduce more product models in
the market and also strengthen our channel network. We have ambitious plans to
tie-up with more IT resellers, especially in B- and C-class cities through our
existing distributors so that Plustek products are available in every corner of
the country.
Will your channel strategy for India be different from that which you use
globally?
No. Our channel strategy remains the same for almost all countries, as we
believe in uniformity. Our channel strategy is simple and effective. We support
our channel partners in every aspect-be it identifying new business
opportunities, sales support, after-sales service (like honoring warranties),
training the channel on new products and technology, incentive and reward
schemes for greater sales performance etc. This strategy has paid rich dividends
for us worldwide and is highly applicable for India as well.
In which areas does Plustek score over its competitors?
Plustek is very strong in technical innovation. We have an excellent team of
research and development (R&D) engineers. We study and understand the
typical requirements of the users and develop products in accordance with their
needs. High utility (scanners packed with rich features) and small form factor
for high portability and aesthetic design are just some of the key reasons why
users prefer our imaging products to other brands.
Have the products been created keeping in mind Indian conditions?
Yes, our products have been designed considering the Indian user
requirements. Indian offices generally have high paper volumes and therefore
require effective document management. Plustek scanners, especially the ADF
(automatic document feeder) models are highly suited for such offices. They have
advanced features like one-touch scan-to-PDF conversion, which digitizes the
documents for reference and use at any point in time later. Besides imaging, we
have our communications products range, which includes IP cameras and network
video recorders (NVR) for enhanced surveillance. Plustek IP cameras score over
the traditional CCTV systems and are ideal for Indian establishments because
they do not require wiring of the entire premises (as they can be installed over
existing LAN cabling) or setting up of a control room (the video feed can be
watched over the desktop) and it costs much less in comparison.
How mature is the surveillance market in India? What kind of sales do you
expect in the first year of launching your surveillance products?
The surveillance market in India has matured over the years. Indian
establishments, especially the retain stores and manufacturing facilities, have
been the early adopters of surveillance products. There is a growing need to
keep a watch on your premises. Since our surveillance products and solutions are
packed with unmatched features and come at the right price we expect a decent
traction for them in the days to come. We expect double-digit growth in sales in
the very first year of launching our surveillance products.
Which are the target segments for your products?
We have an extensive portfolio of products and therefore our target segment
list is also large enough. We have Smart Office Series of multi-function
scanners for effective document management at the enterprise level. Then, we
have the Knowledge Office Series of scanners that are ideal for libraries,
universities etc. These are essentially book scanners, which unlike other
scanner brands in the market, eliminate the book spine shadow and associated
text distortion. There's one book scanner that scans and reads the book to you.
Using the text-to-speech technology users can scan and hear or save the entire
book as an audio file. Next, we have the Mobile Office Series of scanners, which
are again packed with features, and are highly portable. They are suited for
business professionals and frequent travelers. This series has some very
innovative products like business card scanners and the high utility OpticSlim
M12 range. A new product that has been recently added into this category is the
MobileOffice D28. We also have OpticFilm series scanners for professional
photographer, graph designers, multimedia inventors or personal user.
As far as communication products are concerned, we have IP cameras and
network video recorders (NVR) for surveillance. They find application in almost
all establishments across verticals. Plus@com PC1000 is an innovative corporate
communications tool aimed at businesses that need to communicate effectively
across geographically spread-out locations. It helps business users to chat,
message, conference, share data and much more. We have another highly innovative
product called the PlusServer Multi-Function Appliance (MFA) 1000. It has
several functionalities rolled into one. Targeted at the SMB users in India, it
has many applications for the education vertical on offer.
Any plans to set up manufacturing units in India?
Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Mainland China are capable
of meeting the Indian market requirements as of now and therefore we do not have
any such plans currently.
What are some of the challenges of operating in the Indian market?
The Indian market is very price conscious. Secondly, you need to have the
right kind of tie-ups as far as the distribution/channel network is concerned.
The country is large in size and therefore one needs to enter the B- and C-class
cities as well such that products are available in every corner of the country.
Customer awareness is low but as they say, education is the first step to
marketing; we are striving hard through various means to educate our target
audience of the benefits that they can accrue from Plustek products. Page(s) 1
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