Smartlink Network Systems has entered the Indian motherboard market under the brand name DIGILITE.
The Digilite has launched with seven motherboard models AMD INTEL and ATOM platform.
“We believe that with our brand equity, strong regional distribution, and quality and coverage of direct post-sales support, we can make a significant impact in this market,” said Sharma, now Associate VP at Smartlink.
Smartlink will leverage a dual distribution model—national distribution through Ingram Micro, and regional distribution through the 22 Digilink partners.
Smartlink will be manufacturing the motherboards at its Goa unit. According to Sharma, this will give the company a 4 percent cost advantage on taxation and also reduce the time-to-market. “Our plan is to price-position our products on par with those of Gigabyte and Asus. The cost advantage of 4 percent will enable us to provide partners with better margins. In addition, Gigabyte and Asus have a market lead-time of 6-8 weeks, while local manufacturing will give us a lead-time of less than 2-3 weeks.”
“Many OEMs are already talking to us,” said Sharma. “We expect OEM business to contribute 40 percent to volumes while channels will contribute 60 percent.”
“Contrary to all predictions, the white-box desktop market is growing at a robust 10-15 percent. We expect the motherboard market to touch the four million unit mark in the current year, and our goal is to win at least 10 percent of this market.”
“In the motherboard market post-sales support is key, and through Digicare we have direct support in more than 55 cities. Our entire RMA process is managed locally.