BW Communities

Technology, At Your Service

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[For Chester (Chet) J. Pipkin, technology solutions should ideally revolve around "peace of mind"; more specifically, the ability to lead the kind of life you want, physical environment and geographical boundaries notwithstanding. Therefore, even if he is at a business meeting in New Delhi, he wants to be able to watch live television from his house in California — irk his son by switching channels, in the process — or turn off the lights in the kitchen and switch on the fan in the bedroom. He also doesn't want to lose an $800 smartphone even if it ‘accidentally' falls into a lake. As the Founder CEO and Chairman of Belkin International (a US-based, multinational manufacturer of computer hardware, software and connectivity devices since 1983) Pipkin acknowledges that there are "gaps between " and the focus at Belkin has been to try and close the gap to whatever extent possible, through the development of home automation, lifestyle apps and electronics the two aforementioned scenarios are indeed realisable.  WeMo, is a simple home automation product that allows household electronics to be controlled remotely from a mobile app on a smartphone or tablet. It comprises two initial products, the WeMo Home Control Switch that requires only a wi-fi® network and free smartphone app to set up and control,  and the WeMo Motion Sensor, which works with the WeMo Home Control Switch to make the concerned device react to motion. The free WeMo app can be downloaded on iOs and Android platforms. It will be launched this month in the US and by the end of 2012 in India. The next product on the roadmap is a WeMo baby monitor that works through a smartphone app using an internet connection. Belkin's water resistant smartphone technology is still in the process of incubation but will be made available soon. In September this year, Belkin's mobile TV player — a device that helps the user to view television from any part of the world using wi-fi network and is controlled by the concerned set top box — will also be launched in India.  The ScreenCast AV4 that allows users to wirelessly stream full HD content has been popular with Indian consumers. "It is very complicated to make things simple. We help to input our own personality in terms of lifestyle, in our applications & app-accessories," Pipkin explains. Mohit Anand, MD, Indian Sub continent of Belkin India admits that the company's entry into the Indian market in January 2009 was rather late. But their growth story has been far from disappointing. Their YoY growth was 60 per cent (globally it has been 15 per cent in the last seven months) and their turnover, last September, (which marks the end of their financial year 2011) was Rs 150 crore. Belkin India is expecting revenues of about Rs 250 crore in FY 2012. The company is present across 243 cities in India with 102 service centres and 24 sales managers who handle operations as Belkin is now expanding into tier 2 and tier 3 cities and towns. Belkin has 7 full fledged offices all over the world. The company's operating expenditure is about Rs 30 crore and its products are available across 37 e-commerce portals inclusing major e-tail stores in India such as FlipKart, Infibeam and Indiatimes among others. In order to achieve an impressive top line in the financial quarters to come, Belkin India is relying on its wireless technology solutions. Earlier this month, they launched a Wireless Dual-Band Travel Router and are planning to introduce a wireless keyboard very soon. Although they face some competition from companies such as Asus, Digisol and Netgear in India (especially in the routers segment) Belkin is currently the leader in the consumer wireless technology domain with a market share of 24 per cent. Anand is also optimistic about their new smartphone screen overlays that have introduced as a branded counterpart to the fragmented options that exist in the Indian market today while working on supply chain optimisation initiatives to increase revenue. The company is however, present (both globally and in India) across a number of verticals: wireless technology, car accessories, smartphone apps, HDMI cables, chargers, iPad cases and rather popular surge protector (an 8 socket power accessory that safely provides multiple outlets for electronic equipment). "Three screens play an important role in our life: the (smart) phone screen, television screen and the pc screen (laptops and ultra books etc). That's where we've structured ourselves in India as well and done so successfully; we're currently shipping about 1 lakh Belkin products to India every month. More than 54 per cent consumers bought a Belkin case for the iPad 2 that they purchased," informs Anand. Tata Croma sold 18,000 iPads last year.  This year they estimate a sale of 40,000 iPads, since Belkin has 54 per cent sales attached to that, they have good reason to keep their expectations high. Alan Sparks, Vice President, Belkin Asia Pacific believes India is strategically, the most important market in the APAC region for Belkin at the moment —it is also the highest revenue grosser in the region and the second largest (after Australia) in size. "The ASEAN market and South Korea are very important to us as well. We do very well with Samsung and Apple," says Sparks highlighting the strategic relationship with both companies, particularly as they now aim to fortify their global accessory partnership the former. A number of Belkin apps will sport a designed for Samsung tag to display their partnership. Sparks remains diplomatic in not choosing between China and India and which shall emerge the leader, in the near future Belkin might open a product development centre in India. Currently, all products are manufactured in production facilities in China. (Tanuja Chatterjee contributed to this story)