Supertron is exclusive national disti of E-Smart

Kolkata

based Super­tron electronics has tied up with Singa­pore based E-smart Techno­logies

Pvt Ltd to become the exclusive national distributor for their video

conferencing equipments. Being in the market for the last two months Supertron,

which is still in developmental stage of tapping the market for their latest

product category is highly convinced of the immense opportunity that lies ahead

in this particular business division as the concept of video conferen­cing has

finally arrived in India.

Though the concept has

existed in India for the last five years, it has finally come into the forefront

now where people have started to feel its importance and efficiency. Earlier

video conferencing was done through ISDN connec­tion, which was fairly costly.

But the advent of IP has enabled cheaper video con­ferencing through leased

lines or broadband connections. The affordability factor has certainly worked

out in its favor. “The same also hap­pened in case of the equip­ments.

Earlier video conferen­cing tools used to cost around Rs five lakhs onwards.

But now they are available in the range of Rs two to three lakh,” said,

Debasis Roy, Head — Direct Sales, Supertron Electronics.

Today such equipments are

gaining popularity in various market and indus­trial segments. “The esti­mated

video conferencing market in India is roughly around Rs 300 crore. And it is

expected to move up in leaps and bound in the coming years,” informed Roy.

The market segments, which

would be highly benefited with video con­feren­cing, are government,

educational and research institutes, corporate, hos­pital and medical

institutes and the hospitality sector. “This particular concept could really

help these industries in today's technical scenario and at the same time, it

is both cost and time saving,” pointed out Roy.

“Companies can cut down

traveling costs of their employees and also save time by installing these equip­ments,

thereby recovering their investment and installation cost within a year or two.

And the shelf life of the equipments is much higher. Therefore, its benefits are

immense” he explains further.

With e-governance coming up

at a fast pace, this business seems to be immensely lucrative. “It will help

in having regular interactions with the state headquarters and the respective

district headquarters or even the blocks. In fact the West Bengal government is

one of the forerunners in installing such equipments and they are looking

forward to do it in a wider manner. Similarly it is highly useful for distant

learning programs or even the medical sector,” he further added.

E-Smart video conferencing

equipments have products range that suits all kinds of requirements and pocket

size. The product categories include the desktop end point or videophone, which

is essentially an IP phone with a LCD screen facilitating a one to one meeting.

The models' cost range starts from Rs 40,000 onwards. The boardroom style

equipments come with speakers and a camera that pans (rotate) 360 degrees and

can easily cover a conference room of more than 1500 sq. ft. and accommodate

more than 15 people attending a conference. The panning of the camera could be

controlled from both the ends through remote controls. These comprehensive

units' price starts from Rs 2.5 lakh.

The next product category is

the Multi Party Units that facilitate video conferencing for multiple stations.

“We will be able to cater to all the market segments with our wide spectrum of

products,” said Roy. Supertron is currently appointing the channel partners

for their new product range to be sold across the country.

“This is the very initial

stage of the new venture and we are into setting up the network for us” said V

K Bhandari, MD, Supertron Electronics. “This is a very niche product and

requires proper technical know-how. Therefore, we are looking for those types of

value added resellers who are more into technical sales and towards corporate

and large accounts selling” he informed further. The company plans to provide

all the required support to its partners for the new venture. “This is a

highly prospective business opportunity and we are looking for good partners to

grow together,” he said further.

E-smart Technologies is a

part of the E-smart Holdings, a US $ 100 million company having their operations

in seven Asian countries including India. Currently E-smart is on the process of

tying up with a large service providing company having their set-up across

India, as their support partner to provide the warranty supports. “It is in

the finalization stage and hence forth the entire support part will be taken

care by them. We have started off with Kolkata and Bangalore, also Delhi to some

extent and we have so far received very good response and enquiries as well,”

informed Bhandari.

Supertron, highly confidant

of the E-smart products and their aggressive pricing plans to capture about 5

percent market by this calendar year. “We are not looking for volume

initially, but this is a bottom line business for us” said Bhandari who has

already appointed specialized manpower in all the regional hubs to handle this

particular project. But the initial task for the company is to educate the

customers as well as, the partners. “This is still at the concept selling

stage. Just like a PC was about ten years back. But now PC sells like a

commodity. Therefore, we have to educate people first. But we are confidant of

our product and it is sure to control our position in the next six months,”

concluded Roy.

Piyali Guha Kolkata, Feb 10