“We will increase our channel interaction”

What is Kingston's distribution model in India?

We have a pan-India distribution network through five distributors. Our
distributors get the products from Taiwan, which is also our regional
headquarters. They then sell the goods to our reseller channel in India.

Until recently, we were working closely only with our distributors, and we
will continue to do so in the future too. However, now our focus will slowly
start shifting towards the channel. Our interaction with the channel, which was
missing until recently, will now be accelerated.

The way I would like to put it is that we gave birth to the distributors and
got them to a point where they can now walk on their own. Similarly, now we will
give birth to the reseller channel. We are simply looking at making our reseller
channel a logical extension of our distribution network.

What verticals is Kingston targeting in India?

Since we are into flash business, which includes flash USB, flash cards, and
memory modules, the verticals that we are focusing on are telecom, IT and
retail.

Nitin Malhotra Country Manager Kingston Technology

Do you foresee large format retail cannibalizing the business driven by
resellers or smaller retail outlets in India?

No, I do not foresee large format retails overpowering the reseller or
smaller retail channel in India. Retail in India is not very big at this point
of time and I do not see it becoming very big in the near future also.

However, there is a huge potential in retail and over time, it will surely
evolve. Our strategy would be to always cater to retail, whether it is large
format or smaller shops, through the distributors.

What is Kingston's support infrastructure in India?

We have tied-up with a third party service provider and we offer our
services through them. We are the first memory company in India to have done
this. Accel Frontline services Kingston products at 35 locations across India.

We also provide our customers with a toll-free support number and an e-mail
ID for any technical queries that they might have. As this call center is manned
by individuals and is not machine operated, it is very interactive where people
just call up and avail of services they want.

Would it not be better to have your own support center rather than rely on
a third party service provider?

If we had to set-up our own support center, then we would need to have
35-odd locations across the country. This entails a lot of things like setting
up of an infrastructure, manpower, etc, which is not our core competency. Hence,
Kingston opted for a third party for its service needs.

Recently Kingston has standardized its prices. Why?

We have standardized the MRP because the five distributors importing our
products can now have a single common MRP. This move guarantees that the end
consumer does not feel cheated whether he buys a Kingston product from say
Ludhiana or Chennai.

There is a lot of talk about counterfeit Kingston products in the market.
How does Kingston plan to tackle it?

We haven't come across a lot of Kingston counterfeit products as of now in
the market. But whenever we come across it in future, we will take the necessary
steps.

We also educate our distributors about counterfeiting. We haven't educated
the channel as of now about what is a counterfeit, etc.

Who does Kingston perceive as their competitors?

It is very difficult to mention any competition right now. The reason for
this is that we are only a year old in this country; the other memory brands
that are present may feel that we are a competition to them. But for us, it was
a journey to where we are now, so we do not see any competition as such. We are
just making in-roads in the country and the channel. However, we are at a very
dominating position as of now.

We listen to our customers, understand their requirements, and deliver in the
simplest form. We are innovators and technology drivers, so if you see a new
memory product introduced in the market, it is likely that it is a Kingston
product. And in my view, this is what differentiates us from the rest of the
memory brands.

We have recently launched various models of memory card reader. We have also
introduced a memory module exclusively for India.

What is Kingston's USP, vis-a-vis competition?

We very strongly believe that people go to a company that offers good value,
is a technology driver, and is innovative. All these three elements are
ingrained in the Kingston ethos.

We believe that we will draw the consumer towards Kingston on the basis of
these three values that we provide. We are very competitive and take pride in
being the world's number one memory brand.

What is Kingston's goal?

The short-term goal for Kingston is to reach the end consumer and work
closely with them. Also, we want to make available to the end consumer various
products within memory products. We will go to them with new product lines
within memory products. With the capacity additions that go on in terms of
gigabytes, the applications will also increase. We will get into those
applications and embed them in our products.

We are in the process of adding more manpower as well as consolidating
ourselves. At this point of time, we do not see a need for increasing the number
of offices.

What is the marketshare of Kingston in the memory market in India?

There is no agency, which can accurately tell the marketshare of Kingston in
the memory market in India. If you read the articles that are being published
these days, you will find that Kingston has a very strong position in the Indian
memory market.

Ravish Khapra

(ravishk@cybermedia.co.in)