Ambitious business plan begins with entry into security and surveillance equipment;three other verticals to follow within the year
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Notch Infotronix, India’s leading supplier of products and accessories for Computers, Consumer Electronics and Communication under the brand ‘ZEBRONICS’ today announced its new independent business unit for the surveillance and security equipment business.
The nearly two decade-old Zebronics brand is now known for the industry’s widest line-up of products for computers, peripherals and consumer electronics with over 25 product categories and more than 350 unique SKUs. The Zebronics range of products, has become a byword for offering product innovation, great features and engineering, all at affordable prices. Just some months back, Zebronics had also set up an full-fledged R&D center at Chennai to develop products that are hardy, resilient and suited to the Indian conditions.
The Company has had a CAGR of around 30% through the last three years, in spite the slowing down of desktop market. Zebronics now targets a 100% growth this year and a mega Rs 1000-crore brand in next two years. Said Rajesh Doshi, founder and Director, “We decided that a horizontal diversification of product portfolio would be our best bet for achieving the inorganic growth target we had set ourselves and to more fully utilize our resources and capabilities, as we reach our twentieth year. We looked at the many new opportunities. The surveillance equipment portfolio is the first of our major announcements that can be expected this year. We find that there is a huge vacuum at the affordable end of the market and lack of organized players who can back up with a good brand name, quality products, and full warranty support. Zebronics is already an established brand with 12,000 partners carrying our products into big cities and small towns alike. That will form the backbone of our new business unit.”
The Company acknowledges that while its speaker business is on the growth path, the growth in traditional PC accessories had stagnated in the past 2 years which was adversely impacting its channel partners. The new product line is being introduced based on partner feedback that they would like to expand beyond traditional peripherals According to 6Wresearch, the Indian Video Surveillance market is expected to reach $952.94 million by 2016, with a CAGR of 32.49% from 2011-2016. While analog based surveillance systems have accounted for major market-share so far, IP-based surveillance systems are growing with relatively higher CAGR of 41.78% from 2011-2016.
Zebronics expects that about 15% of its revenue will be generated from the surveillance business in the first year (2015-16) itself. The product portfolio announced by Zebronics includes 15 new products in the categories of cameras, DVRs and video door phones. There are 4 analog and 8 HDCVI camera with IP camera to be announced soon. The DVR range consists of analog 4/8/16 channel and HDCVI 4/8/16 channel. There are 3 video door phone from 4.3” screen to 7” screen with touch feature. The CCTV power supply has two variant indoor and outdoor. The surveillance business will operate as an independent business unit with its own sales force. A business head is already in place – Mr. Ashok Jha an industry veteran of 10 years working as country head for leading surveillance organizations of India, has taken over as Business head for Surveillance Products at Zebronics.
The products will be targeted at mainly at SMB retail and commercial establishments, and the home segment but are also suited for a variety of uses such as government, transportation, banking and finance.
Strategically, this foray marks a radical shift in Zebronics’ business. While their current channels (numbering over 12,000) have focused on the youth and end-consumers with mainly entertainment products, Zebronics is now introducing a completely new operating paradigm targeting the institutional consumer (mainly SMBs) and the ‘responsible’ homeowner. Elaborating on the plans to educate the consumer and their channels to take on the challenge of addressing new segments, Doshi said, “We are rolling out our channel education program right away, at least 10 training workshops will be held across various cities in the next few months. Furthermore, a measure of our confidence is the fact that all our security products will carry swap warranty right from the beginning.”
“This marks a transformational moment for Zebronics. We are now looking at other verticals and sectors where we can make a difference, sticking to our core philosophy of value for money backed by innovative engineering, appealing design, reliability and service support,” continued Doshi. He also spoke of aggressive plans for the mass-market consumer electronics sector with flatscreen TVs and handheld devices and tablets, announcements for which are to follow within the year.
Reflecting its wider business, Zebronics also introduced a new brand identity and Company logo, which signifies its new growth aspiration and transformation, and celebrates the culture of innovation built over the company’s nearly two-decade history.
