VXL claims World No.3 spot in 'TCs'

The Bangalore-based VXL Instruments claims to have displaced Hewlett-Packard (HP) as the third largest supplier of Thin Clients (TCs) globally.

A thin client is a computer with no hard drive or other moving parts that can lead to machine failure. It operates on a mainframe whereby all instructions come directly from a central, secure server.

Each thin client operates independently. Because thin clients have no hard drives, there is no loss of data if a local thin client gets damaged or has a local power failure.

The Thin Clients market is led by the US-based firms Wyse Technology (with 39 per cent share) and Neoware (with 28 per cent) according to IDC data.

VXL has a market share of 10 per cent for the period ended December 31, 2003, while HP has 7 per cent. In the last 12 months, VXL has ramped up its share from 4.3 per cent to 10 per cent.

Explaining how this was achieved, Tim Goldring, CEO of the Rs 32 crore VXL said, "To understand this, one must appreciate and understand a little of the Thin Client (TC) market. 24 months ago, a PC cost $900 and a Thin Client "" or TC "" cost $500.

This was attractive to buyers. 9 months ago the PC was at $500 and the TC at $400 "" the differential was not sufficient to stimulate demand. In November 2003 VXL produced a powerful, full featured, upgradeable TC at $199. This action had two effects. One was that, upon test and examination for performance etc. customers who would normally have bought from other sources such as Wyse, Neoware, HP etc bought from us. The second effect was to open the market to large and very large enterprises whose cost approach is key to their strategy."

Citing the example of the Life Insurance Corporation in India ordering 10,000 TCs and France Telecom 12,000 from VXL, Goldring said such savings allow users to invest in servers, infrastructure etc, and avoid the costly management of local client data, security etc.

He said this year VXL should be delivering in excess of 70,000 units compared with 18,000 last year.