'Test it to Believe It'

What is your strategy to stand out from other routers and
switches players?

The Indian routers and switches market is huge. We are introducing more
powerful and cost effective products for consumers. I think the Indian market
needs more cost effective products. In China, Maipu has been very successful in
doing that, and we have 78% market share in modems. We want to emulate the same
story in India too. India is our most important overseas market. We want to
enter into Indian market by forming alliances with local Indian partners. We
want to utilize our local partners for sales and support to cater to the market
here. Our differentiating factor will be the level customization. We can provide
more choice to the consumers in India. Our main target in India, as in China,
would be the telecom companies and banks.

What is the spread of your non-China business, and have you
started marketing your products in India?

In the last three years, we focused only on the Chinese domestic market.
Till last year, we had indirect international presence. Our routers are already
in the market and have registered very good sales. Last year, we launched our
strategy for active international marketing. Since then, we have spread our
business from eight countries to thirty-two countries. In India, one of the
largest telecom companies is installing our products, and others are testing
them. Media giant CNBC has already installed our products

What is the scale of operations that you are targeting?

We are in the process of evaluating the market. We do not have a fixed plan
in this regard. We would like to share the experiences of our local partner in
understanding the market here. As far as the market share is concerned, we want
to be among the top three in the Indian market. Our current business in India is
roughly around $4 mn.

There is a negative impression all over the world about the
quality of Chinese products. How do you plan to change that vis-à-vis your
products?

Yes, I agree that earlier there were issues with the quality of Chinese
products. But, now Chinese products especially in ICT industry, hardware and
software, are world-class, and we have been acknowledged by the West for that.
Regarding Maipu products, I can say that we have very stringent quality control
measures in place. Our products are also tested on the basis of where it will be
used. For example, for Indian Railway, we will test our products at very high
temperature so that the products will be able to work even in high temperature
condition. We believe in 'test it to believe it'. We allow our customers to
test our products before they deploy.

You have said in a statement that your company is an R&D
focused company. Do have any plans to setup R&D base in India too?

That's our target. We want to position ourselves in the R&D space in
India, working together with Indian talent. I foresee that in not so distant
future, we will have an R&D center in India. We want to work with Indian
talent to achieve our target of offering completely customized products for
India.

You have presence in other SAARC countries as well. How is
your experience there?

In SAARC countries, we have already made success. For example, in Nepal,
Maipu's routers were the only routers, apart from Cisco, that were approved by
Nepal Telecom. In Pakistan, we are in talks with several system integrators and
other companies, they are testing our products and until now they are quite
satisfied. I think within this year, we will have finalized scores of large
deals in the country. In Sri-Lanka, all the telecom operators have placed orders
with us. And, in Bangladesh, we are in the initial contact phase only.

Nilabh Jha


nilabhj@cybermedia.co.in