"We are confident of mirroring our global success in India"

When Western Digital entered India in February 2002, it failed to make its
presence felt. It announced its renewed interest in the Indian market, in May
2004, including setting up offices, appointing distributors and expanding the
local team. Hafeez is now galvanizing the channel to popularize the brand and
push sales.

When Western Digital (WD) first entered India in February 2002, it created
very little or no impact. What induced WD to give another try?

We commenced our India operations in Feb 2002, with the appointment of Ajay
Kapure as Country Manager. Prior to this, the company's products were
available in India through its distributors. However, our efforts within the
country were focused on studying the market, its potential and opportunity for
WD within it. We have now forayed into India with distributor tie-ups (Priya and
Tech Pacific-Ingram Micro), and a service partner tie up (RT Services).

Are you on target to achieve the goals you discussed in May 2004?

Much has changed since we signed Priya on as a distributor. In August, we
inked a distribution pact with Tech Pacific (now merged with Ingram Micro). We
launched SelectWD India - a channel incentive program for dealers, resellers and
system integrators. We also have training programs for channel partners, and
have conducted sales training seminars for distributors across metros such as
Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Calcutta. We plan to continue
reseller seminars in B- and C-class cities.

Hafeez Khawaja

In India, we foresee channels reaching the rapidly expanding desktop market
and playing a large part in establishing WD as a household name.

WD is the third largest hard disk drive maker in the world. What is your
position in India now?

Globally, we are now the second largest HDD provider to the desktop segment,
with a market share of 25.3%. The estimated global market shares of the top
three players in the desktop segment are as follows: Seagate - 32.7%; WD -
25.3%; Maxtor - 25.2%.

Have you been in a position to replicate the success of OEMs in India as
has been the case worldover?

Not long ago, Zenith Computers signed WD as a key supplier of HDDs for its
branded PCs. We are confident of mirroring our global successes in India and are
looking at becoming among the top players in this market.  

Two of your distributors merged (Tech Pacific and Ingram), now leaving you
with only two distributors. Is that enough to cover the entire country?

Tech Pacific and Ingram Micro are two of the largest distributors in India
today. Both companies have an extensive set up across the country and with
combined revenues of approximately Rs 3,693 crore, they are definitely a power
to reckon with in the IT distribution space. Additionally, the synergies and
economies of scale will allow them to offer better price to customers, thus
helping us increase our marketshare as well as creating customer loyalty.

How much has Priya's contribution been to your overall business?

We have been able to successfully leverage Priya's nationwide distribution
network spanning 20 cities and encompassing 21 branches, service centers,
stocking warehouses and 3000 channel partners.

What is the typical turnaround time that you promise to customers in the
case of a warranty replacement?

The turnaround time on replacement drives can be almost immediate for WD
customers. In the event of a drive failure or any other issue with the drive, a
customer has only to take his/her drive to the reseller/system integrator (SI)
from whom it was purchased. Current stocks permitting, the reseller / SI is able
to immediately replace the defective drive, which in turn is immediately
replaced by the distributor.

Major part of the HDD market here in India is in the hands of Seagate and
Samsung. What is your strategy to beat this?

Western Digital remains committed to India as is evident from the
comprehensive strategy we have put in place to gain market and mind share in
India. This includes our distributor and channel program as well as channel
incentive schemes. In terms of technology, we believe in SATA as the technology
of the future and have invested heavily in developing and propagating it
globally. WD offers the widest line of SATA drives in the industry and the only
10,000 RPM SATA drive.

Why should a customer buy WD hard disk drives, when it is priced higher
than other competitive products, offers lesser warranty and limited in its
reach?

On the warranty issue, rather than focusing on an extended warranty period,
our primary goal is to offer WD customers greater overall value in terms of
product quality and technological superiority.

Standard PC warranties are one year. Even so, Western Digital has maintained
three-year warranties on its premium desktop products during the past few years
when most competitors only offered one year. And our high-performance product WD
Raptor is supported with a five-year warranty.

NELSON JOHNY