| Company Name | AdventNet Development Centre (India) Pvt Ltd |
| Specialization | Network management solutions for OEMs and enterprises |
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Chennai SW Companies
Phones get cheaper, spares don`t
When Nikhil Kant, a young Delhi-based businessman, bought his Nokia N73m in March 2007, he paid Rs 22,000 for it.
Earlier this month, when Kant went to have the battery changed, he found out that though the price tag on N73 had shrunk to Rs 12,000, the battery price was unchanged at Rs 2,250! He decided against replacing the battery and instead bought a new handset.
Mobile phones prices have crashed between 25 per cent and 40 per cent in the last one year, but spare parts remain more or less where they were. Privately, several mobile handset makers said that they prefer to keep the prices of spare parts and batteries high so that customers go for new handsets. In other words, it is a carefully crafted strategy to push handset sales.
Since spares account for a very small part of the revenues of a mobile handset maker, low sales in this segment do not dent their top line in any significant way. KPMG Advisory Executive Director Romal Shetty reckons that for a large mobile manufacturing company, the revenue from spare parts would be less than 5 per cent.
“The mobile components usually do not see a price drop like phones, which is due to the fact that the margins are lower in this market,” said Motorola Mobile Devices Director (marketing) for India and South-West Asia Lloyd Mathias, adding: “Components are service products and not the main product; handsets will always be the main priority for us.
Earlier this month, when Kant went to have the battery changed, he found out that though the price tag on N73 had shrunk to Rs 12,000, the battery price was unchanged at Rs 2,250! He decided against replacing the battery and instead bought a new handset.
Mobile phones prices have crashed between 25 per cent and 40 per cent in the last one year, but spare parts remain more or less where they were. Privately, several mobile handset makers said that they prefer to keep the prices of spare parts and batteries high so that customers go for new handsets. In other words, it is a carefully crafted strategy to push handset sales.
Since spares account for a very small part of the revenues of a mobile handset maker, low sales in this segment do not dent their top line in any significant way. KPMG Advisory Executive Director Romal Shetty reckons that for a large mobile manufacturing company, the revenue from spare parts would be less than 5 per cent.
“The mobile components usually do not see a price drop like phones, which is due to the fact that the margins are lower in this market,” said Motorola Mobile Devices Director (marketing) for India and South-West Asia Lloyd Mathias, adding: “Components are service products and not the main product; handsets will always be the main priority for us.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
VW to invest Rs 1k cr more in Chakan plant
Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest car-maker, plans to increase investment in its plant at Chakan, near Pune, by 41 per cent to produce the Skoda Fabia for the market.
Volkswagen will spend a total ¤580 million (about Rs 3,500 crore or $910 million) building the factory, said Christina Merzbach, a spokeswoman at the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker.
The previously announced figure was ¤410 million (about Rs 2,500 crore or $640 million).
The added investment will pay for an assembly line for the Skoda brand’s Fabia model starting next year, Merzbach said. The plant, which will have the capacity to build 110,000 cars annually, originally was planned just to produce Volkswagen-brand models.
The Fabia is currently assembled at the Skoda Auto facility in Aurangabad.
On Thursday, Volkswagen India president Joerg Mueller said in Pune that the company was planning a bigger presence for its small cars in the Indian market in the next couple of years.
“We will manufacture the Polo at Chakan from 2010. The concept car Up!, unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo in January, is in the process of development and will be the smallest car offered by the company,” Mueller said.
He pointed out that Volkswagen had no plans to compete with the Maruti 800 or the Nano. “We are developing Up! with a completely different technology. It is just a concept car and we won’t launch it before 2012,” he said.
The Polo would be priced at about Rs 4.30 lakh and the smallest model in this range, the concept car Up! would be available at about Rs 1.80 lakh.
The plant coming up at Chakan will have a flexible assembly line to make a range of cars. Volkswagen also plans to import its premier car models, Phaeton and Touareg, from May, Mueller said.
About other brands, Mueller pointed out that Volkswagen’s celebrated car Jetta would be on the Indian roads by the end of May. or some time in June. “We have priced Jetta between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 15 lakh. It will be assembled at the Aurangabad plant.”
The company is also planning a vendors park on a part of the 575-acre site at Chakan. “We are in the process of finalising a developer to set up the park. We have asked our vendors, suppliers and component makers to occupy space inside this park only,” Mueller said.
Volkswagen will spend a total ¤580 million (about Rs 3,500 crore or $910 million) building the factory, said Christina Merzbach, a spokeswoman at the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker.
The previously announced figure was ¤410 million (about Rs 2,500 crore or $640 million).
The added investment will pay for an assembly line for the Skoda brand’s Fabia model starting next year, Merzbach said. The plant, which will have the capacity to build 110,000 cars annually, originally was planned just to produce Volkswagen-brand models.
The Fabia is currently assembled at the Skoda Auto facility in Aurangabad.
On Thursday, Volkswagen India president Joerg Mueller said in Pune that the company was planning a bigger presence for its small cars in the Indian market in the next couple of years.
“We will manufacture the Polo at Chakan from 2010. The concept car Up!, unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo in January, is in the process of development and will be the smallest car offered by the company,” Mueller said.
He pointed out that Volkswagen had no plans to compete with the Maruti 800 or the Nano. “We are developing Up! with a completely different technology. It is just a concept car and we won’t launch it before 2012,” he said.
The Polo would be priced at about Rs 4.30 lakh and the smallest model in this range, the concept car Up! would be available at about Rs 1.80 lakh.
The plant coming up at Chakan will have a flexible assembly line to make a range of cars. Volkswagen also plans to import its premier car models, Phaeton and Touareg, from May, Mueller said.
About other brands, Mueller pointed out that Volkswagen’s celebrated car Jetta would be on the Indian roads by the end of May. or some time in June. “We have priced Jetta between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 15 lakh. It will be assembled at the Aurangabad plant.”
The company is also planning a vendors park on a part of the 575-acre site at Chakan. “We are in the process of finalising a developer to set up the park. We have asked our vendors, suppliers and component makers to occupy space inside this park only,” Mueller said.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
VW's Polo to be priced around Rs 4 lakh
Volkaswagen is expected to price its small car Polo above Rs 4 lakh, and is planning to import premium models Phaeton and Touareg from May.
Volkswagen will start production from its Chakan plant near Pune from January 2009. Joerg Mueller, president, Volkswagen India, said: "We will manufacture the small car Polo at the Chakan plant from 2010, and the car would be priced around Rs 4.35 lakh. The concept car Up, presented at the Delhi Auto Expo in January, is in the process of development. It would be the smallest possible car by Volkswagen, and could be priced around Rs 1.80 lakh."
He added that Volkswagen has no plans to compete with existing small car brands like Maruti 800 or Nano. "We are developing Up in a completely different way, and the technology is totally different from the one being used by Indian brands. Up is just a concept car, and we won't launch it before 2012," he said.
Mueller pointed out that Jetta would be on the Indian roads from May-end or June. "We have priced Jetta between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, and it would be assembled at the Aurangabad plant. Two other cars, Phaeton and Touareg, would soon be fully imported," he added.
Volkswagen will start production from its Chakan plant near Pune from January 2009. Joerg Mueller, president, Volkswagen India, said: "We will manufacture the small car Polo at the Chakan plant from 2010, and the car would be priced around Rs 4.35 lakh. The concept car Up, presented at the Delhi Auto Expo in January, is in the process of development. It would be the smallest possible car by Volkswagen, and could be priced around Rs 1.80 lakh."
He added that Volkswagen has no plans to compete with existing small car brands like Maruti 800 or Nano. "We are developing Up in a completely different way, and the technology is totally different from the one being used by Indian brands. Up is just a concept car, and we won't launch it before 2012," he said.
Mueller pointed out that Jetta would be on the Indian roads from May-end or June. "We have priced Jetta between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, and it would be assembled at the Aurangabad plant. Two other cars, Phaeton and Touareg, would soon be fully imported," he added.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
India is 3rd most brand conscious country
An improving economy and the rapid opening up of the Indian market has given rise to a group of affluent consumers who are more than eager to adopt the latest fashion trends. According to the latest Nielsen Global Luxury Brands Study, 35% Indians who participated in the survey agreed to buying designer brands. This is the third highest percentage globally with Greece leading the countries with 46%, followed by Hong Kong with 38%. Despite the prevalence of imitation designer-branded goods in some markets, surprisingly more than three-fourth of Indians surveyed do not think that imitation products match up to the real deal.
The top brands that Indian consumers spend on are Calvin Klein (34%), Gucci (25%), Diesel (24%), Christian Dior (16%), and DKNY (10%). India has also made it to the top ten markets globally for some of the brands. India ranks third highest globally for people who buy Gucci products. It ranks sixth for Calvin Klein, ninth for Diesel, and tenth for Fendi for buying these brands globally.
“People are travelling overseas more frequently now and quite likely their interactions with foreign brands have increased considerably. Moreover, foreign brands are synonymous to status and our survey finds that 57% of Indians surveyed buys designer brands as a status symbol. The number of outlets that these brands have opened up in the country in recent times is a testimony in itself of the increasing fashion consciousness amongst Indians,” said Vatsala Pant, associate director, client solutions, The Nielsen Company.
Though 73% Indians feel that designer brands are usually overpriced for what they are, 35% also believe that designer brands are of a significantly higher quality than standard brands. India stands eighth globally which thinks designer brands are quality products and invest in it despite of the price. About 45% Indians think that only fashion conscious people consider buying designer brands.
“There seems to be a huge market potential for luxury brand line extensions into every corner of the home and office and cross-over between brands and products is certainly an opportunity to drive the demand for these products,” added Pant.
The top brands that Indian consumers spend on are Calvin Klein (34%), Gucci (25%), Diesel (24%), Christian Dior (16%), and DKNY (10%). India has also made it to the top ten markets globally for some of the brands. India ranks third highest globally for people who buy Gucci products. It ranks sixth for Calvin Klein, ninth for Diesel, and tenth for Fendi for buying these brands globally.
“People are travelling overseas more frequently now and quite likely their interactions with foreign brands have increased considerably. Moreover, foreign brands are synonymous to status and our survey finds that 57% of Indians surveyed buys designer brands as a status symbol. The number of outlets that these brands have opened up in the country in recent times is a testimony in itself of the increasing fashion consciousness amongst Indians,” said Vatsala Pant, associate director, client solutions, The Nielsen Company.
Though 73% Indians feel that designer brands are usually overpriced for what they are, 35% also believe that designer brands are of a significantly higher quality than standard brands. India stands eighth globally which thinks designer brands are quality products and invest in it despite of the price. About 45% Indians think that only fashion conscious people consider buying designer brands.
“There seems to be a huge market potential for luxury brand line extensions into every corner of the home and office and cross-over between brands and products is certainly an opportunity to drive the demand for these products,” added Pant.
Friday, March 21, 2008
SBI's first Saudi branch in Jeddah soon
State Bank of India (SBI), which got a licence from Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) last year to open its full-fledged branch in the kingdom, will open its first branch in Jeddah soon.
J Parameshwarappa, general manager, SBI (Saudi Arabia), has inked the building lease, and the branch will be located at Al-Andalus Plaza on Sitteen Street in Jeddah.
The bank has, in recent years, sought to expand its overseas operations by buying foreign banks, launching new products and services for foreigners and the Indian diaspora as well as opening new branches in different countries including the Gulf states.
The bank's branch here will go a long way in meeting the requirements of businessmen and Indian expatriates. The Indian community has welcomed the SBI branch in Jeddah.
J Parameshwarappa, general manager, SBI (Saudi Arabia), has inked the building lease, and the branch will be located at Al-Andalus Plaza on Sitteen Street in Jeddah.
The bank has, in recent years, sought to expand its overseas operations by buying foreign banks, launching new products and services for foreigners and the Indian diaspora as well as opening new branches in different countries including the Gulf states.
The bank's branch here will go a long way in meeting the requirements of businessmen and Indian expatriates. The Indian community has welcomed the SBI branch in Jeddah.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Short-selling to begin from April 21
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday said short-selling and securities lending and borrowing will be operationalised from April 21.
The circular asked stock exchanges and depositories to make necessary amendments to the relevant bye-laws, rules and regulations for the implementation of the decision, bring the provisions of the circular to the notice of the member brokers/clearing members, depository participants and communicate to the Sebi the status of the implementation of the provisions of the circular in the monthly development report submitted to the market regulator.
Sebi had come out with a circular on December 20, 2007, specifying the broad framework for short selling by institutional investors and a full-fledged securities lending and borrowing scheme for all market participants.
The circular asked stock exchanges and depositories to make necessary amendments to the relevant bye-laws, rules and regulations for the implementation of the decision, bring the provisions of the circular to the notice of the member brokers/clearing members, depository participants and communicate to the Sebi the status of the implementation of the provisions of the circular in the monthly development report submitted to the market regulator.
Sebi had come out with a circular on December 20, 2007, specifying the broad framework for short selling by institutional investors and a full-fledged securities lending and borrowing scheme for all market participants.
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