Multilink to put thrust on digital imaging 

"Digital cameras are the future and digital cameras would lead the
imaging business in the times to come," quipped an enthusiastic Saurabh
Nagpal, Director, Multilink Computers Pvt Ltd. Multilink has been providing
various peripheral solutions in the industry for over three years. It offers a
wide spectrum of solutions ranging from CD Duplicators, CD Writers to modems.

It forayed into digital cameras three quarters back with Kodak's dealership.
And picked up the north India distributorship for Olympus in January this year.
Since then, it had treaded the brighter side of the growth.

The product comes with a wide range of offerings--starting at Rs 13,995
Olympus' cameras carry the technology which is required for flawless quality of
pictures. This wide range of products has helped Multilink to segmentize the
target audience and give a customized solution to its customers.

The basic model has 2x digital zoom, 2.0 Mega Pixel CCD and a 8 MB Smart
Media, which suffices the requirements of a novice photographer who might like
to click some casual shoots. This can cost anything between Rs 7,000
(lesser-known brands) to Rs 14,000 (better brands).

There are a few players in the high-end models such as Olympus, Casio or
Nikon. A professional camera can cost anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000.
"The target segment for these high-end models is very small but potent.
Most of the photographers in print media and in advertising agencies are
graduating to a digital camera because of the high picture quality, quick
results and lowest possible processing costs. Time is the biggest constraint in
these industries and digital camera can give almost instant results and that too
of the most superior quality. These factors are making the digital cameras take
a visible lead over the conventional analog cameras," pointed out Nagpal.

The high-end camera offered by Olympus comes with all the accessories that a
conventional camera comes with. In fact, its accessories are complete processing
lab in itself. The sublimation dye transfer printing system, costs a modest Rs
45,000 as compared to a conventional lab that will cost nothing less than Rs 10
lakh, will give 16,770,000 full colors and 7.7 Mega Pixel. There is also
available a compact printing system that cost just Rs 30,000.

"We have seen a considerable change in the buying pattern and thus we
took dealership for Kodak and distributorship for Olympus. Olympus has become
the fastest growing digital camera in India, though major market share is still
ruled by Kodak.

Given these trends Olympus should be able to create a substantial market
share in a quarter's time," opined Nagpal.

His motto is to give value added services to his channel partners and the
end-users. There is a help-line on which a customer can call for any kind of a
query. He has been trying to give as much support as possible to the channel
partners and the customers. Nagpal has pinned a lot of hopes on the Olympus
brand and with clear motto, growing customer base, he plans to become a leading
channel partner for digital cameras.

Shweta Khanna