Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) Taiwanese firms were largely equipment suppliers to companies across the consumer durables and technology solutions space. They are now gearing up to give tough competition to their earlier customers, taking on South Korean giants like LG and Samsung.

“We so far knew how to produce products, but we did not know how to sell them,” said Eric Kuo, general manager of MSI Computer India, an information and communication technology (ICT) firm, which was mostly involved in supplying equipment for other brands in the IT market.

MSI India, which has been known for its production of motherboard and graphics cards, is now all set to launch its own tablets in the Indian market this July and is aiming to double the head count, besides strengthening up distribution channels its products.

The company is eyeing revenue of $60 million this financial year, up from the $45 million it clocked in 2010-11, and will spend about $1 million on marketing and advertising this year.

“We are aggressively looking to expand our operations in India. By yearend, we are looking at doubling our head count and setting up more offices. We will also strengthen our distribution channels for all products,” Eric told IANS..

“Our aim is to be among the top three players in the next two years and for that we need to have monthly sales of 20,000-30,000 units; so I would say that is the sales target we have set for ourselves to achieve in the next two years,” he added.

Among many international brands to which the Taiwanese firm supplied key equipment are Apple, Dell, HP, Sony and Verizon.

Another technology equipment major, BenQ, used to produce mobile phones for Motorola till a few years back.

The company now manufacturers LCD televisions, LCD monitors and digital cameras for the Indian market. It said it gets 40 percent of its revenue from projectors and 40 percent from LCD monitors while TV and camera make up the rest 20 percent.

“It is true that companies like LG and Samsung have been around for years now, but Taiwanese companies are world-class when it comes to manufacturing ICT and electronics hardware,” said Rajeev Singh, country head of BenQ India.

“They just need to communicate to the customers better and establish their presence,” he added.

Network solutions provider for small, medium and large enterprise business firm, D-Link is betting big on the growth of third generation technology in the country. The company is all set to add a new product, Boxee Box, to its product line for the Indian market.

Equipped with an SD card slot, USB ports and optical digital studio connector, this device offers a customer the option to play high-definition videos from the web on a television. The customer just needs to have a TV with an high-definition multimedia interface output and an internet connection.

“There is a lot of excitement among Taiwanese companies expanding in the Indian market. Indian homes are increasingly getting internet savvy, 3G will definitely add to the growth,” said Kerman H. Rana, associate vice-president operations (West) D-Link.

Taiwan has a total of 758 electronic companies listed on its stock exchange and remains on the first position in the world in 11 ICT categories as of 2010.

The total combined revenue of these companies at the end of 2010 was $411 billion while the industry grew at a rate of 31.6 percent.

According to Business Monitor International, India’s consumer electronics market is expected to increase to $48.6 billion by 2015, driven by rising incomes and growing affordability.

“India offers the perfect environment for growth opportunities for Taiwan ICT products due to the exponential rise in the Indian economy. Though our entry is a bit late as compared to other countries, we are the most competitive in terms of manufacturing, design and reliability,” Paul Chen, director of Taipei World Trade Center Liaison, told IANS.

India-Taiwan trade stood at $6.4 billion in 2010, of which a big portion was contributed by ICT.

The Taipei World Trade Center is a bilateral trade promotional body based in Mumbai. “So far Taiwanese companies were mostly providing equipment to big brands. But now with the Indian economy booming, we would want to increase our exposure to this huge market,” added Chen.

(Priyanka Sahay can be contacted at priyanka.sahay@ians.in and biz@ians.in)