Western Digital strengthens Indian operations

Hard dish drive manufacturer, Western Digital (WD) plans to strengthen its Indian operations with the appointment of two
more distributors for the country. Currently, it has Priya as its national distributor. 

Says Hafeez Khawaja, Senior Regional Director, Middle East/Africa/South Asia, WD, "We want to tap the Indian market and feel this is the right time,
as the HDD market is growing at a brisk pace. We are talking to two multinational distributors to get associated with us." 

The company also plans to open offices in Mumbai or Bangalore within three months and employ 11 people in the first year of its operations. Claiming to
have 25% marketshare worldwide, WD hopes to capture the same marketshare in India as well within two years. "We know that Samsung and Seagate are
leaders at the moment, but this is not a problem for us as we encounter them in almost every country we go to. At an average, it takes us roughly two
years time to beat them and become a major player in the market," Hafeez adds.

Ajay Kapure, Country Manager, Western Digital notes, "We will conduct road shows in 15 cities this quarter, primarily in A- and B-class cities. Later,
we will target 10 more cities, for C-class cities. This will help us build good brand equity for WD."

The company is also working on a channel loyalty program, which will be announced shortly. It expects to target 200 partners initially, who would be
rewarded according to their performance. Rewards may either be in cash or kind.

ATANU KUMAR DAS

NEW DELHI