Xenitis eyes foreign markets...

07 Dec 2005 00:00 IST

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Two years after Xenitis launched Aamar PC in Kolkata and then
made it a national brand, the company is now focusing on the international
market. With its venture in the South East Asian market Xenitis has turned Aamar
PC to an international brand. As their first international endeavor, Aamar PC
was launched in Bangladesh on the month of June this year. Since then as per the
figures given by Xenitis the brand is doing well in its first venture in the
overseas market. Boosted by the response Xenitis recently launched the brand in
Nepal where it is known as Mero PC.

...enters IT lifestyle segment

Xenitis group of companies, a
Kolkata-based IT company who had
earlier focused on the low cost PC segment is not planning to enter the
lifestyle IT products segment. "Now we are aggressively entering into the
lifestyle IT products like media centers which we prefer to call Aspiration
Products and we are also eyeing for the market of high end technical regime of
servers," informed Santanu Ghosh, Chairman, Xenitis Group.

With aggressive plans for growth in mind, the company is
targeting a turnover of Rs 500 crore in the year 2005-2006. Xenitis reported an
annual turnover of Rs 178.06 crore this fiscal.

"On an average we have been selling 18,000 boxes per
month. Now we are targeting to sell 50,000 PCs per month," said Santanu
Ghosh, Chairman, Xenitis group. Xenitis group, manufactures of Amar PC in
Kolkata and Aamchi PC in Maharashtra, is all set to launch its new range of
indigenously manufactured laptops in the Indian market next month.

Xenitis is already present in Bangladesh and Nepal. The
company sells its PCs under the brand name of Aamar PC and Mero PC in these
countries. "We have sold our PCs through local distributors in Uganda,
Nigeria and Australia," Ghosh said.

"Our current market share is 7.5 percent of all branded
PC's sold in India. By virtue of its origin in the East, the company commands
a 25 percent market share (the highest by any brand) in Eastern India. We are
looking at 20 percent share in the national market," he said.

"We started our journey with a very small network of 52
dealers. Now we enjoy the support of more than 1,000 dealers and
distributors," he said.

"A few years back one could not think of competition
between an MNC brand PC and a desi brand PC. I should say our very own Xenitis
brand PC has forced all big players to reduce the price and created a healthy
price war for the benefit of common people," he asserted.

CyberMedia News

Pune

"After we established the brand in India now we are
focusing in the overseas market. To start with we chose the SAARC countries
first," said Probir Majumdar, National Manager (Corporate Sales). Xenitis
is also well ahead in its plan to launch their PC brand in Sri Lanka. In
Bangladesh Amar PC is selling a steady 1,000 units per month. In Nepal Mero PC
was launched in October and according to Majumdar in the first month 1,000 units
were sold.

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For Xenitis marketing and branding of their product is of
utmost importance. As is known, the company is extremely aggressive in their
marketing and branding strategies. Successfully targeting an initial sale of
1,000 machines per month in Bangladesh, Xenitis is now all set to carry forward
its branding in the country to a newer height. The company is also working on
the sales model and is planning to appoint dealers and distributors for maximum
reach in the country. "We will also appoint our own people over there to
take care of the service issues and also to act as the liaison between us and
local partners," said Majumdar. Right now Xenitis is controlling its
operations through their distributor based in Dhaka.

Before launching a product in a new market the company
ensures they research market and measure the prospect of their brand and plan
their strategy likewise. "Branding is very important as people should know
about your company and product first. Otherwise sales wont take place as is
expected," explained Majumdar. "If people are not aware of the brand
and its product they are not likely to buy it," he said. Another major
tool, according to Majumdar, is events and for Xenitis' international ventures
the company is looking at doing lots of events.

The company is keeping no stone unturned to explore the
possibilities based on which suitable strategies could be chalked out to earn
the maximum benefit out of then. Another very important strategy of Xenitis is
to launch the product in any country with big partners only who already have an
established infrastructure. It has done so in both Bangladesh and Nepal and is
in talks with some leading partners for their launch in Sri Lanka also.

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But the most winning strategy of Xenitis in launching their
PC brand is perhaps the brand name. It is a meticulous decision that the company
takes while choosing the name of the brand before launch. "We first check
out which could be the most effective name that would directly hit the minds of
the local people. We launch our brand according to the local demand. That is the
strategy we have followed till date and would continue with the same," he
added.

Piyali Guha

Kolkata

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