Memory has always been an integral component of India’s IT scenario and today is no different, global as well as Indian brands are vying for the Indian market segment where there are huge opportunities that lie ahead, as a result, memory presents a great opportunity in front of the channel community to go strong as well as ensure growth for themselves as well as their customers.
Indian Market Scenario
As per the views of M A Mannan, Country Manager, Corsair Memory India, Channel partners play a very key role during any purchase. They are the opinion leaders for majority of customers and their advice matters the most.
“In such cases, recommending best in class memory brand can be very crucial to maintaining trust among their consumers. Most of the sales happen from repeat customers which is a sign of trust. Also, channel partners should not be focused more on the price aspect. Customers usually stretch their budget for quality. It is time what matters the most! A faulty memory module would demand time for repair/replacement, which consumers just hate!,” he explains.
As per the views of Richard Tan, MD & Director, ADATA Technology India, DRAM Modules or Memory as it is popularly known in the channel fraternity is still one of the important PC component and still gives channel ample opportunity to earn high margins.
“An industry observation in the last couple of quarters is that the PC segment – especially the Gaming PC segment is once again picking up. Secondly in Gaming PCs the requirement on DRAM modules is slightly higher as compared to the general PCs. The minimum configuration that the users are nowadays going in for Gaming PCs are 4GB and above. Also the ASP (Average Selling Price) of these is much better that gives higher margins,” he explains.
According to Rajesh Goenka, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Rashi Peripherals, Memories are of two types one is the traditional DRAM and the second is flash based; which comprises of USB drive, Micro SD, Camera cards and SSD. Both businesses have different business dynamics.
“DRAM is more of a system Integrator based product which goes inside the PC box. This is very price sensitive as the rates keep fluctuating almost weekly if not every day. Smart resellers keep a track of the demand in the local market and the DRAM exchange which indicates the worldwide pricing trends. They plan their stockings accordingly, broadly there are few opportunities that enable the partners to earn fat margins,and partners are always on the lookout for the same,” he explains.
As per the views of Umesh Modi C.E.O, ZION, IT business now has become very challenging.Dealers struggle to manage their costs. Hence they are forced to cut costs. But this needs to be done keeping a long term perspective.
“Unfortunately, dealers have become ‘Penny wise Pound foolish’ these days. Memory is the first product which comes under the hammer. In order to save on costs, they chose inferior memory modules which come from unauthorized channels and are without warranty. Hence, when these come for warranty, which has a real high chance, they end up losing the entire cost of the module. We urge channel partners to opt for Genuine memory modules, as they ultimately save money in the long run. We, at ZION, offer a silver coin for every module that comes under warranty, along with instant replacement. This ensures extra profit to the channel when any module comes for warranty!” he explains.
Key Focus Areas
According to M A Mannan, Country Manager,Corsair Memory India, Corsair has successfully dominated this segment with its Vengeance and Dominator series of RAMs. “With quality on our side, we focus more on channel strategy. Corsair has memory for every customer according to his budget vs for entry level, Vengeance for gaming and overclocking and of course Dominator- the world best and fastest dram. We would like to educate our partners about our unparalleled technology in RAMs. Corsair memory modules have wide-spread usage in gaming, designing, healthcare, editing and more. We have invested our time and money in building Corsair in India and there are certain perks in associating with a world class brand like ours. We welcome our partners and customers to connect with us for information on our products,” he adds on.
Talking about some of the key focus areas, Richard Tan, MD & Director, ADATA Technology India, ADATA as a brand in DRAM modules is pretty strong in Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar and NCR region. “These areas put together account for almost 45% of revenue from DRAM segment. In rest of the regions though ADATA is presence is significant but so are competitive brands as well.” He explains.
Talking about the key focus areas, Rajesh Goenka, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Rashi Peripherals, says that Rashi works with all tiers of channel, and provides not only distribution but service too. This enables partners to have complete business satisfaction and confidence. In today’s scenario, there are many non-branded players which are the biggest challenge we face. Hence, we need to improve awareness of branded products with local warranty in the market and this is the key for our success,” he explains.
Umesh Modi C.E.O, ZION, says that, our focus is now 2 pronged. On one hand, we focus on the system integrator who wants to build good quality, headache free systems. This integrator might be building desktops, thin or mini PCs, or even servers.
“We have a dedicated team working with server partners and Thin PC Assemblers who focus on building robust server client solutions for corporates. Our second key focus area of focus is the end consumer who has the knowledge to build his own PC. Mainly gamers and PC enthusiasts are our targets. We do this by regularly interacting with them through campus activities, gaming events, both online and in cafes, as well as through our facebook page. Our facebook page www.facebook.com/zionram.in has more than 23000 followers, majority of whom are between 15 and 25.” He adds on.
Opportunities and Challenges
As M A Mannan, from Corsair Memory India says, it is the Tier II & III cities, where channel partners can make the most out of Corsair. This is where recommending Corsair would help partners and the company to grow. Also, online and LFRs are able to churn numbers consistently.
“We deal with our channel partners exceptionally well and extend our full cooperation to them. Our partners have had no unpleasant customer feedbacks and always had a healthy image in the market. It is very important for us to have the same synergy among us to move ahead. Our responses to their queries are quick and efficient. By promoting brand Corsair the channel partners fetches a fair amount of margin which is evading other entry level brands,” he adds on.
Speaking about the challenges, Richard Tan, MD & Director, ADATA Technology India, One of the biggest challenge for a successful DRAM brand is availability of modules through GRAY or parallel channels. This though may not be too bad for a brand as its availability only shows its popularity – but the distributor business bleeds a lot because of this. Secondly, after sales support suffers because of this – as most of the SKUs do not carry global warranty and because of which the end customer suffers.
“A channel partner needs to keep pace with the changing business and technology needs. On must be ready to adapt to changing to business dynamics accordingly. Keeping abreast on the technology front definitely helps to overcome the challenges faced. To serve this segment a partner must be ready to learn and unlearn about the technology and provide solutions rather than just the products. The best way to serve the customers would be to be able to assemble a whole PC rather than selling components,” he explains.
Talking about the challenges, M A Mannan, Country Manager, Corsair Memory India says that the biggest challenge in this space is to compete against lower-end models. Even though they suffice the basic needs of a user, the difference of using a Corsair module against a lower version is huge in the long run. The decay in terms of performance in Corsair modules is almost negligible.
“Also, mobile devices have slowly started to gain acceptance as a primary computing device. Experts say that even though a PC has its specialized usage, the growth of mobile devices has affected this segment for now. The consumers have to make the tough decision. It’s a dilemma between Quality & Price. And as consumers we always prefer Quality! The burst of internet has suddenly filled us with knowledge and consumers are making smart choices when it comes to buying. Also, the growth of mobile devices has sparked our interests in gaming. People are now spending their leisure times in these activities. This will eventually help us tap this market with promises of better performance, graphics and experience on a PC!,” he explains.
Speaking about the challenges and opportunities in this segment, Hugo Lee, Sales manager- South Asia, Transcend says that DDR4 memory module series has got huge opportunity in India. “The series includes DDR4 2133 MHz UDIMMs, RDIMMs, ECC-DIMMs and ECC SO-DIMMs, which are fully compatible with the latest Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 server family processor, Haswell-E CPU with X99 chipset and micro servers,” he explains.
Talking about the challenges, he says that the mobile DRAM is the expected to grow based on the good performance in Q1 2015 and Samsung’s 23nm production. “However the mobile DRAM growth and the PC DRAM is plummeting. We put more focus on industrial application. For example, Transcend’s DDR4 series boasts superior performance, 1.2V ultra-low power consumption, and increased reliability. All these features make it perfect for cloud computing, virtualization, and high-performance computing technologies,” he is quick to add on.
As per the views of Umesh Modi C.E.O, ZION, there is still huge opportunities in this area. Still a huge chunk of memory modules used in India are either sub-standard Chinese products or pulled out modules. These may seem cheap in the beginning. But ultimately end up more expensive when they fail when we look at cost of replacement and headache to get it replaced at consumer site.
“We have been regularly educating our channel partners across India the disadvantages of such memory modules. This is done through dealer meets as well as personal visits by our sales team. Lately we have been interacting with our channel partners through whatsapp as well as emailers to educate about perils of using inferior products,” he adds on.
Speaking about the challenges, ZION C.E.O Umesh Modi said that one of ZION’s major challenges today is the stagnation of Indian desktop market. “On one hand, we have the inferior quality memory modules which flood the markets through unauthorized channels. On the other hand, we have big MNCs with global reach who want to buy Indian market share. Everybody is fighting for the same market. We believe, the key to sustaining under such challenging times is offering good quality memory modules on a consistent basis. Zion has been doing so over past 17 years!,” he explains.
Innovations Galore
Talking about the innovations, M A Mannan, Country Manager, Corsair Memory India says that both Vengeance and Dominator RAMs come with built-in heat sink for faster heat dissipation. The entire body of the module is covered with metal to ensure that the heat generated from the chips are distributed equally and spread over the body. This helps in over-clocking and ensures longer life!
“We have refreshed our lines of memory modules and made improvements based on customer and expert feedback. Our lines of Vengeance and Dominator RAMs are a big hit among professional gamers and enthusiasts. We have a hassle-free after-sales service that minimizes the liability of partners in case of damage. So essentially partners just have to sell and forget. Customers have an easy access to service stations all over India. They can even courier their damaged product and get a quick replacement. We offer trust and quality to our partners and customers. It is a simple equation simplified further by our hard-working team at Corsair India!,” he explains.
Giving details about some of the innovations, Rajesh Goenka, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Rashi Peripherals informed that Rashi Peripherals is promoting various bundle initiatives based on compatibility and values advantage to the partners.
“This is a win- win advantage for partners, system indicators and end customers. We also conduct training programs to improve the channel knowledge. “ONE STOP SHOP” from sales, marketing to servicing Rashi does them all,” he adds on.
Speaking about the innovations being driven by ADATA, Richard Tan, MD & Director, ADATA Technology India says that ADATA has always been at the forefront in bringing out new technology.
“Last year ADATA was the first to introduce DDR4 technology worldwide, in the recently concluded Computex in Taipei – Taiwan we have created a world record of overclocking ADATA Z2 DDR4 3400 MHz DRAM modules to a whopping 4034MHz. We work very closely with leading motherboard vendors in bringing out the latest technology that is available on a wide range of motherboard platforms. We can easily boast of being the leading DRAM manufacturer who’s DRAMs are tested and certified to be working on the widest range of boards. When a customer buys ADATA DRAM – he not only gets the best quality product that are rigorously tested but also have equally well supported after sales and service support spread across throughout India through our service centres.” He adds on.
Speaking on the innovations, Hugo Lee, Sales manager- South Asia, Transcend says that except DDR4 Transcend extended its memory expert skill to car video recorder, expansion card/HDD/SSD for Mac, and body cam.
“Transcend’s latest DrivePro 220 car video recorder equipped with Lane Departure Warning System and Forward Collision Warning System for extra safety, the DrivePro 520 dual lens car video recorder that can capture the footage from both inside and outside of the vehicles at the same time, and the DrivePro700 body camera aimed at the police officers and security staff as a protective measure.
In addition, Transcend’s industrial-grade product portfolio is comprised of a wide range of memory and flash-based products. This includes the next-generation DDR4 memory modules and a complete lineup of industrial SSD solutions, ranging from 2.5” SATA III SSDs, Half-slim SSDs, mSATA SSDs, mSATA mini SSDs to the latest M.2 SSDs.
As the concept of Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly becoming mainstream, this year Transcend will show the innovative industrial applications based on four fields – Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicle, Smart Home, and Industry 4.0. To highlight the ultimate stability and great compatibility in diverse industrial applications.
Talking about the key advantages coming from Transcend, Hugo Lee, Sales manager- South Asia, Transcend says that, Transcend provide high quality product. DDR4 memory modules are fully compliant with JEDEC standards and undergo strenuous 64 bit kernel, single-core and multi-core testing to ensure the best quality possible. All DDR4 models carry Transcend’s renowned Limited Lifetime Warranty.
Talking about the innovations being driven by ZION, ZION C.E.O Umesh Modi, said that on the marketing front, we are doing the “Silver coin for RMA” promotion which is a one of a kind promotion in India. None of our competitors are doing it. “Also, from time to time, we run unique promotions. For gaming, we are organizing the Xtreme Gaming League in Mumbai which will host more than 1000 amateur and professional gamers. The unique proposition is the prize that we are giving away. The winning team gets a chance to go to Goa ! More details can be found on www.zionram.in/xgl. On the product front, we are developing new Gaming rams under the ZION XTREME Gaming Series. These Rams are highly stable even when overclocked as well as working ahead of schedule to launch the full range of DDR4 memory modules!” he explains.
Talking about some of the key advantages for channel partners, Umesh Modi from ZION says that tor partners, we bring Peace of Mind. “They know that on selling ZION Memory modules, their profitability is assured. Even if it comes for warranty, they make money via the silver coin promotion. Not only this, ZION memory modules are compatible with all motherboards. Hence, a dealer can confidently recommend ZION, where another brand didn’t work. For the end consumer, we bring high performance and reliable and instant post sales support. Any consumer can walk into our service center without a purchase proof anywhere in India and claim warranty,” he adds on.
Kingston is a channel friendly company and we believe in growing with the channel partners
Vishal Parekh Marketing Director, Kingston Technology India
What are some of the key focus activities that Kingston is planning when it comes to positioning of its HyperX brand in India?
HyperX is our niche high performance product division. We already have a wide range of HyperX products including SSDs, Memory modules, Headsets and even USB drives.The roadmap for HyperX this year is exciting and we will be rolling out products that are designed mainly for professional gaming, PC enthusiasts, overclockersand media professionals.
With quite a few niche HyperX products planned for launch this year and a strong channel presence, we are positive to further strengthen the position of HyperX in the market.
What would be the big role of channel partners in terms of pushing HyperX in India?
Kingston is a channel friendly company and we believe in growing with the channel partners. With our product and market expertise, we provide a platform for our network to improve and grow in terms of revenue and reach. With strong relations with our channel partners, we are able to provide useful firsthand information on the price fluctuations and help them prepare to seize market opportunities. We consider our channel partners as an important part of Kingston as they do contribute to our brand image.
Please share with us the essence of HyperX by Kingston? What is the primary idea behind this and how do you want to take it forward in a country like India?
HyperX is known throughout the world for quality, performance and innovation and this brand isn’t new to the Indian market. As mentioned earlier, HyperX is our high performance division encompassing high-speed DDR4 and DDR3 memory, SSDs, USB Flash drives, and gaming accessories. As it commands a premium mindshare with our target audience, it is relatively easier to educate them about the new products that we will have available for them soon. We also support the E-Sports community in India and encourage it to collaboratively grow stronger.
We are sure that with a better understanding of the upcoming technologies, capabilities of our products and proper usage, this will be a positive year for our stakeholders in India.
What kind of value addition is going to happen with regards to announcement of this new brand by Kingston?
Our HyperX products have received good traction already and we only intend to grow from here. We now have products strategically designed to cater to specific user requirements. Broadly speaking, based on performance and value, the HyperX lineup is divided into HyperX Predatory, HyperX Savage and HyperX Fury. The same logic applies to the Memory modules as well as Storage products.We have announced quite a few products this year, like the HyperX Savage Memory, HyperX Savage SSD, HyperX Predator PCIe SSD, HyperX Predator DDR4 memory and HyperX Fury DDR4 memory, and will have many more coming to India.
What kind of growth are you expecting from India and how will this growth be achieved?
India is a vast market for both, Storage and Memory modules. With more geographies to cover, we also have a vast spectrum of requirements to cater to. Being an expert in the global industry, Kingston has made available the best products and solutions to the Indian market. Thanks to our supportive channel partners, we have been able to provide the best-in inclass products to our customers at a highly competitive price.
With this strong network and positive feedback from the customers, we expect to achieve a better market and mind share.
What are the key differentiators for Kingston in India when compared with other vendors operating in the similar market scenario?
We do not draw comparisons with others in the market. We believe in enhancing our products, services and the overall experience in a way that is beneficial for our customers.
Kingston was one of the first to showcase the DDR4 memory to the world at CES 2014 and have already introduced many solutions thereafter. We have a bouquet of products that enhance the customer’s extreme computing experience. What makes us better is the use of new technologies, like the DDR4, USB 3.1 and USB 3C, and making them available to the customers at a value price point, as soon as possible.