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Parallel imports rattles Asus distributors

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DQW Bureau
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Vinita Suvarna-Bhatia

Asus' authorized Indian distributors are unhappy with the parallel imports of company motherboards in the market. According to them, these are sold at 10 percent lower than the company's approved price, which eats into their market share. The first consignment reached the Indian shores in July, reportedly from Dubai.

Said one distributor, "The cheaper prices of these imports unnecessarily spoil the bottom-lines for those distributors who invest so much time and effort in building the market. When we drop our prices to remain competitive, it takes a toll on our RMA and service policies."

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The problem came to light when a few systems assemblers started complaining about bad performance of Asus motherboards. One distributor has already received seven such complaints so far. The authorized distributors are now planning to take strict action against the company which is dealing in these parallel imports.

However, the parallel importer claims that it is not involved in any illegal activity as parallel imports are very much legal. Citing reasons for not purchasing it from the authorized distributors, the importer said, "The distributors are selling the products at very high prices, which our customers are unwilling to pay in the current market scenario. Therefore, we have no other option but to import the product from Asus' authorized distributors in other countries."

He also adds that the products are not substandard as they are genuine Asus products. "We merely route it through a different country. This has no effect on the quality of product, which we have verified by getting the products checked by our in-house team."

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Sources say that most of the parallel import is done for the motherboards that fall in the entry level price range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000, including the CUSI-FX, CUV4X-C and P4T-M.

(CNS)

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