Targus targets Indian retail market

Targus, which supplies mobile computing cases and accessories, is eyeing the Indian retail market for growth by partnering leading players like Croma, Staples and Bharti-Wal-Mart.

The company, which has been in India since 2004, contributes about $12 million every year to the total revenue.

While 85 per cent of it comes from supplying the products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Lenovo, HP, Sony, Acer and Indian brand HCL, the rest comes from retail sales.

Initially, the OEMs generated 95 per cent of the revenues. With retail market expanding in India in the last two years, the branded business is also gaining momentum.

"We are seeing a lot of traction from the retail sales. We have tied up with leading players to sell the products. We are selling our products through the Apple stores also. We expect 2008 to be a significant year for us as most of the big retailers are expanding in a big way," said Targus India General Manager Sukumaran Pallikara said.

The company, which has significant presence in all the metros, is also expanding in the tier-II cities. "In the next six months, we expect laptops priced less than Rs 25,000 to hit the Indian market.

Many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are planning this particular product for markets like India. This could lead to close to 30 per cent growth in terms of sales in India," he pointed out.

At present, the company sells over 100,000 units (all products) in India to both OEMs and retail customers.

Targus is targetting three categories of customers in the retail market.

"The fashionable and dynamic segment is aimed at youngsters while stylish and compact bags and accessories are targetted at the ladies. We are also targeting the corporate customers, mostly the business travellers. Our designers located in Japan, California, London and Hong Kong periodically evolve new products based on customer feedback. All these products are being introduced in the Indian market," said Targus Asia Pacific Director (Product Marketing) Nick Andrews.

India ranks third for the company in Asia in terms of the market size. China is the biggest followed by the South East Asian market. Targus South Asia MD Calvin Quek pointed out that the company was witnessing a compounded annual growth rate of 60 per cent in India.

The company has a manufacturing plant in Chennai to produce 30,000 units per month.

"We intend to expand the factory in the coming years. We are also attempting to localise the components. At present, we are importing leather and nylon to the Chennai factory," Quek said. In Asia, Targus has factories in China, Japan and Indonesia too.

Apart from carrying cases, Targus sells wireless keyboards with mouse, remote controls, compact stereo speaker and laptop portable lapdesk.