Mohit Anand

Belkin entered India in early 2009 and in two-and-a-half years, you have now formally launched the brand in Nepal. What kind of planning and market research has gone into this endeavour?

There are a few aspects that we carefully look into while entering a particular market and it was no different in the case of Nepal. We look at the overall macro economic situation as to how a particular economy is doing and whether there is an opportunity for us. The market size, PC installed base and PC growth are some of the factors that we have to consider. We then look at the partner eco system and the kind of channels that exist. We explore distribution partners that we can align with and the products that will give us early traction.

And then we contemplate the critical business enablers – investments needed to make from resourcing, branding and product perspectives. All of this go into the plan before we enter a market and this is exactly we had done in India. In two-and-a-half years, we have now been able to clock Rs 150 crores across the Indian sub continent. The Nepali market has also played its part as Belkin products were available here in June-July this year. But we were first tapping the market – getting the basic assortment and distribution going – before the formal launch that is happening today.

Name us the major interconnectivity solutions that come out from the Belkin stable.

If you look at the Belkin product range, we operate in six key distinct categories. The first one is wireless networking which is critical for us because it’s about interconnectivity – broadband is becoming pervasive and people are connecting to the internet on a daily basis. Second, we have our surge protectors which help people protect their expensive consumer electronics and home appliances. The third one is our range of accessories around the PCs – laptops as well as desktops. Fourth, our audio video interface cables, which allow consumers to experience HDMI audio or video at 1080p HD TV resolution. The fifth is structured cabling – our passive network solution – which connects networks, commercial data centres and high end enterprises when they need to have wide area or local area networks. The last one is our products around mobile phones, smart phones and tablets which we call our mobility range. These encapsulate the six broad product categories that we play in.

You consider the Indian market to be one of your most strategic markets. How have you performed there given the tremendous potential that the country presents?

We started off at zero in January 2009 in the Indian market and if you rewind to that time frame, the world economy was in recession. While most people were curtailing investments and going slow, we were investing. The result of that investment has bore fruit now – we have got to Rs 150 crores by September 2011 exceeding our own expectations of Rs 120 crores by a long way. We are almost on the cusp of completing three years in the sub continent in January 2012. We are now saying that we want to get to Rs 250 crores by September 2012 with our expansion into Nepal and reach across the Indian market as well as other countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. And by 2015, we want to be a Rs 1,000 crores company across the sub continent.

Belkin has expanded its footprint beyond India to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan, practically covering the entire South Asia region. How do you explain this rapid expansion?

The rapid expansion is a direct reflection of the results that we have produced and the success that we have had. We had a sound strategy but more importantly, we executed the strategy very well. The result is, as I told you, we have a Rs 150 crores turnover across the sub continent within a short span of time. Consumers have accepted our products in the market with open arms and that has fuelled our growth and confidence to enter other markets. We have very successful businesses in Bangladesh as well as Sri Lanka. And now in Nepal, we are hoping that we will be able to do a substantial business of about half-a-million dollars by the end of 2012. We also hope that the market in Nepal will grow to become a multi-million dollar business by 2015.

What is your assessment of the Nepali market for your product lines?

There are three parts to that answer. Firstly, the country has gone through a metamorphosis in the last three years – there has been peace, political stability etc. As a result, the economy has performed well and the people are willing to spend. The economy is growing robustly and doing well even though it is coming off a small base – that in itself presents a big opportunity. Secondly, the demographics of Nepal is brilliant where you have a young, tech savvy and an emerging well educated population that is able to consume the products Belkin has to offer. And lastly, our partnership with the right set of partners such as Neoteric Nepal, retailers and channel partners is really the backbone of our success. Because ultimately, Belkin does not sell anything directly, it sells everything through its partners. Therefore, getting our partner eco system right is the third critical piece we feel very confident about and believe that it will prove to be our stepping stone to success.