Aftermarket LCD monitor services soon in India

BANGALORE, INDIA: Bangalore-based Repair & Return Technology (R&R India) has recently entered into a joint venture with Sequel Technology Inc. of Taiwan to provide technology for repair and aftermarket services for LCD panels and monitors in India. This JV has happened at an opportune time as the Indian LCD monitors market has been estimated to reach $6 million from the present $3.3 million by 2010.

Talking to CIOL Bureau, R. Jayakumar, chairman of R&R India said: "The JV will soon pave the way for global high-end electronics manufacturers to outsource repair and service to India. It is only matter of time before global players start outsourcing repair work to India."

India has lately been witnessing a boom in the sale of electronic gadgets, including laptop, PCs and TV sets. Jayakumar said: "Repairs for electronic gadgets are categorized in four levels. While the L1 and L2 levels relate to small repairs that can be handled by the local service dealers, the L3 and L4 levels need sophisticated special clean-room facilities to repair the motherboards, LCD panels and monitors. Presently, these kinds of repairs are done only in Korea, Taiwan and China."

"We will now operate in this division for the B2B market catering to major companies, including Samsung, Sony, LG, Motorola, etc., and this agreement with the leader will help us bag major orders," adds Jayakumar.

In the first phase, the companies will invest $2 million in setting up a state-of-the-art LCD panel repair service and other aftermarket services (AMS) in India for the electronic consumer and communication industry. The facility would come up in Bangalore in 8000sqft of built-up area. It will also set up similar facilities at Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi, respectively.

David Chao, managing director of STI said: "We feel India has the potential that remains untapped. Besides LCD panels and monitors, Sequel Repair & Service also extends to mobile phones, PDAs, PCBs, digital cameras, as well as other related products and we will provide the same technology for these products also in India."

Sequel claims to be the first professional AMS provider specializing in electronic consumer and communication related industry in Taiwan. The company has also set up operations at Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing in China.

In fact, Sequel has been doing the repairs for most international leading brands and in 2007 alone bagged orders worth $12 million in the LCD panels and monitors, while the other repairs amount to $26 million. "We are now aiming at $30 by 2008," adds Chao.

An industry source says that the concept of LCD repairs is very niche and the life cycle of an LCD panel or monitor is only about three to five years. Besides, only five companies manufacture LCDs for the global market, which are based out of Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

"All of the leading electronic consumer companies buy from these players and we have inroads to most of them," claims Chao.