Strengthening Its Networking Arm

Founded in the year 1983 Chennai-based HCL

Peripherals Ltd, the peripherals arm of HCL Corp. has established

itself as a leading manufacturer of computer peripherals in

India. Since inception, the company has progressively maintained

its growth rate and has clocked a turnover of Rs 66 crore for the

year 1996-97. HCL Peripherals’ product line includes

monitors (color, SVGA, and mono SVGA), key boards, LAN

accessories, and Unix terminals.

As a logical extension to its existing

peripherals business, the company has made up its mind to venture

into the networking segment. HCL Peripherals made its foray into

this segment in 1995, coinciding with the boom in the Indian

networking market.

HCL Peripherals designs, manufactures, and

markets the company’s range of networking hubs. The company

manufactures 8- and 16-port hubs, 16-port intelligent hubs,

32-port stackable hubs, 32-port 4-segment Ethernet switches with

the brand name of BeeHub. These products are targeted at small

and large network workgroups and departments. HCL Peripherals

also manufactures CAT 5 structured cabling products like 16-port

patch panels and 24-port patch cords. The company also

manufactures key telephone systems.

vspace="2" width="236" height="162">Leveraging

its existing expertise, the company is contemplating a lot of

product launches in networking. In a bid to cater to the ISP and

remote offices market, the company has successfully developed

Remote Access Servers (RAS), which will be officially launched

soon. According to company sources, this product will be priced

between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000. In comparison to the prices of

the MNC brands, it is much more economical. In addition,

manufacturing routers is also on the cards of HCL Peripherals.

The networking division of HCL Peripherals has

done business worth Rs 5.13 crore in 1996-97 which constitutes 8

percent of the total revenues of the company. According to

company sources, the networking division has set its target to

grow more than twice its present revenue share in the company. If

it is translated into value, it comes to Rs 13.6 crore which is

16 percent of the projected turnover of HCL Peripherals for the

year 1997-98.

With a mission to become world-class OEM of

computer peripherals, the company has made sizeable investments

in its manufacturing facilities at Chennai and Pondichery. As far

as its geographical reach is concerned, the company has a strong

presence all over the country through its sales and support

centres located in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, and

Secunderabad.

HCL Peripherals Ltd primarily focuses on the

financial and banking segments. Its major customers are Bank of

Madura, Dena Bank, ICAR, Indian Overseas Bank, and Syndicate Bank

among others.

There is no denying that HCL Peripherals’

networking division is lesser known compared to the likes of

3Com, Bay Networks, Cabletron, Cisco, D-Link, etc. However, it is

committed to grow fast and grab a sizeable share of the

networking market. If the company maintains its present growth in

networking, the day is not far when HCL Peripherals would see

itself in the bigger league of networking players. Needless to

add, steps taken are in the right direction.