2. How many channel partners do you have? Is there any plan to increase the current number?
Although there are very large number of channel partners there in India who buy through our distributors however there are more than 1000 members in our SelectWD program in more than 200 cities and town on India.
3. What is your distribution model in India?
WD has a focused channel structure which is aimed at different customer segments and a strong regional approach. Our external products are available through our distributors all over India.
Our channel partners play a major role in both selling as well as popularizing our products. Western Digital's current channel focus on spread billing. We have combination of product & market focused distributors.
Our internal range of HDD is distributed by Champion computers, Global infonet, Jupiter international, SES technologies and Venktron digitals systems. Our External products in IT channels are distributed through Champion computers, Global infonet, Jupiter international, Neoteric and Venktron digitals systems and External drives in Organized sectors (non IT channel) are distributed by Rashi peripherals. Aditya Infotech distributes our AV and enterprise range of internal drive in AV and surveillance market.
4. What is your focus in terms of business segments?
We have managed to penetrate the market in a major way with a combination of innovative marketing and service strategies, a strong channel program and committed distributors. Today, we are a well recognized brand among all our key customer groups and some of our products such as the WD Raptor and WD My Passport have become almost iconic.
5.What kind of internal resources do you have? (In terms of logistic and customer supports).
Warranty support is extremely important as customers need to be reassured of the brand that they have purchased. As a result warranty is important even as an aid to brand building.
In order to provide these services, WD launched the “WD Express” warranty replacement program. As per the program, WD collects in-warranty WD hard drives from, and delivers replacement WD drives directly to, the homes and businesses of its India customers, including distributors, resellers and end customers. The service is available only on in-warranty WD hard drives sold through our authorized India distribution channel.
The replacement operation combines an online product-return system (Return Material Authorization - RMA number generation) and national toll-free customer helpline with a door-to-door courier arrangement for drive replacement.
In the event of an in-warranty drive failure, customers can register the drive's serial number and generate RMA numbers on the company's website at www.westerndigital.com/support. After the pick-up address is confirmed with the customer through WD's toll-free helpline (1800-11-93-93), customers can expect a courier service to pick up in-warranty failed drives from their doorsteps within one working day (customers can also get RMA# and confirmed pickup address through toll free number or through email at wdexpress.india@wdc.com also). A replacement drive is then couriered to the customer within a span of three working days of the failed drive reaching the central warehouse.
6. What is your go-to-market strategy in India?
WD's go-to-market strategy consists of a comprehensive distributor network as elaborated above as well as an all-inclusive education campaign and service support set-up.
7. How big is the storage market in India ? And how has Western Digital positioned itself in this competitive market?
The Indian storage market has evolved greatly over the years; with data becoming very critical for businesses as well as individuals. The availability and advancement of digital devices such as digital cameras, digital videos, etc. have encouraged the need to store data and thus have stimulated the rapid adoption of storage in the Indian market.
There have been various new developments in the space of hard disk drives in India , with continued improvements in form factors, rotation speeds, interfaces, recording technology, energy consumption, and encryption as well as channel progress. One of the major themes among disk drive manufacturers over the last year has been reduced energy consumption. Nowhere is that more evident than at Western Digital, with the introduction of GreenPower versions of our Caviar and AV drives. With the increasing impetus on higher storage capacity, one TB HDDs have gained significance in the market as they satisfy the ever increasing consumer appetite for digital content. There has been a continued doubling of storage capacity every couple of years, which has helped the hard drive keep its value proposition of low cost and high capacity.
8.What kind of emerging opportunity do you see in storage market at this time of recession?
Digital information growth is explosive and we need HDD for storage of all digital content so the opportunity is continue to grow of HDD.
9. Do Western Digital is coming out with any promotional activities for channel partners in this quarter or in near future?
We do have program for channel partner time to time
10. What are the additional benefits which we are planning to give it to the Channel Partners compared to competition?
Our selectWD and Exclusive club programs has been very popular with our channel members
11. What is your goal in 2009?
Having created a strong distributor network and forging a retail distribution presence, we will now be focused on enhancing reward channel member through structured program, innovative schemes and incentive programs. Additionally, we will be focusing more on SMB, Corporate and end customer market this year.
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