Sharp expands IT business with printers, laptops

NEW DELHI: Sharp Business Systems India, a JV between Sharp Corp Japan and
L&T India, has launched two product ranges with entirely different purposes.
While the launch of its dotmatrix printers will see the company joining the rat
race for the volume market, the sleek laptops will be targeted only at the CEO
level keen to make a fashion statement.

Sharp's distributors will market the printers and laptops directly. Priced
above the Rs 5000 range, Sharp is banking on the marketing skills of its
distributor Salora International to make a dent in the dotmatrix printer market.
And the company is clear that it will not appoint any more distributors since `Salora
is doing a fine job'. Besides it does not want to over distribute to ensure
better margins for all.

Sharp CEO, Sunil K Sinha describes the channel strategy, "While there is
no disputing that HP is the numero uno in printers and its channel strategy is
truly remarkably, it is also a fact that HP invests heavily in backing its
channels. And retailers merely push HP's printers and do not do any real
selling."

"It is an established fact that retailers have no brand loyalty and will
only sell what customers want. The positive quality about Salora is that it
convinces the customer that Sharp products are worthwhile and that, at the
ground level, is real salesmanship," says Sinha.

Sharp printers dries very fast and has a `no smudge advantage' over its
competitor's products. It believes that boom times will arrive when the market
for LCD monitors matures. Already prices of LCD monitors are fast tumbling and
by the time it is in the Rs 20,000 range, the LCD monitors market will really
boom. LCD monitors are mainstream in Japan with Sharp commanding around 70 per
cent of the market share.