Toshiba expands retail footprint

NEW DELHI: Toshiba may have made a late entry into India but the company is confident of garnering 10 percent PC marketshare by 2010.

Speaking on their strategy for the India market, Sivakumar.N, Head—PC Division, Toshiba India said, “Our focus will be to increase our footprint through exclusive and non-exclusive retail shops. In April 2008, we had 11 Shop Toshiba outlets (exclusive stores), and about 100 iShops (multi-brand stores). We have now increased those numbers to 50 plus and 450 plus respectively.”

Sivakumar added that the company's focus was on retail as that was where they can gain visibility and enhanced sales. He shared that the target was to add 100 more exclusive outlets and 200-900 more multi-brand outlets by 2010.

The criteria Toshiba would be looking at when signing up partners for these stores are broadly based on the location of the shop, its visibility, area (mall, market) and size. “We are not specifically looking at the high-end partners, but we are clear that they should be retail-oriented and have full understanding of the retail business,” stated Sivakumar.

Apart from the usual channel engagement programs that Toshiba rolls out for its channel on a monthly basis, Sivakumar informed that he also personally visits partners at their shops to get their feedback. That apart, the company also organizes frequent localized meets during which they interact with their partners. Recently Toshiba also concluded a 15-city channel meet during which time dealers got to interact with officials from Toshiba and share their feedback.

When asked how they plan to take on the competition of other players who are currently leaders in the market, Sivakumar said, “When we entered the India market we had a clear goal and we invested accordingly, whether it was the appointment of a brand ambassador—actress Vidya Balan, investing in resources, product line or brand building.



Toshiba holds four percent of the PC market in India.So we are a strong brand, and though our entry into India has been late it does not mean that we cannot increase our marketshare here. We have the largest range of prices. We also compare our prices with our competitors and take corrective calls if we have to.”

For the servicing of its product line Toshiba currently has three authorized service partners—RT Outsourcing, TVS-E Servicetec and HCL. “We have 56 service centers in 37 cities and two toll-free numbers that are operational seven days a week, from 8am to 10pm,” informed Kumar.

The company recently launched its latest notebook PC series—Artful, which is available for a price range of Rs 22,990 to Rs 53,490 excluding taxes. The launch was done keeping the consumer and education sector in mind.