Maxtone is one of the prominent distributors and manufacturers in India for IT products and services with a strong and trustworthy channel across the country. ChampakrajGurjar, Managing Director, Maxtone Electronics Pvt Ltd., in an interaction with Mobility shares Maxtone’s plans, strategy and vision.
Champakraj details, “The current trend is convergence between IT, communications, mobility, eSecurity, etc. We at Maxtone have been providing our own branded IT products as well as we are distributors for other companies for a long time. Now we are adding mobileaccessories and peripherals to our portfolio. We have recently launched unique powerbankswith lithium polymer battery with the brand name Minix. We are the first to launch it in the Indian market.”
Maxtone has its own brands HIS & MAXFORCE for products like PCs, motherboards, graphic cards, add-on cards,AIO etc. with presence all over the Asia Pacific including India. Maxtone is a distributor for Compaq/Hpspares and upgrades, . Apart from its own branded motherboard HIS & MAXFORCE,
Maxtone’s foray into mobile accessories and peripherals
Today, unlike on feature phones, on smartphones people do many things like surfing the web, watching movies, etc which rapidly discharge the inside battery so powerbanks have become essential nowadays.
“What we have in the market are Li-ion batteries which are called 18650 cylinder batteries. Lithium ion batteries are mostly used in laptops. On the other hand, lithium polymer batteries, which are sleeker and slimmer, are comparatively more powerful with greater capacity. These are highly suitable for mobile gadgets like smartphones and tablets where sleep mode is very important. Our ownpowerbanks whichcome with 3000 mAh, 5000 mAH and 10000 mAhare suitable for remote travelers who can charge their mobiles 5 to 6 times. Our powerbanks have dual connectivity mode using which you can charge a smartphone as well as a tab simultaneously. We are also coming up with mobile peripherals like speakers, headphones, etc. We are also introducing mobile paring system where you do not have to carry SIMs separately. You just have to parry themand all your 3 SIMs will be working. This is a new innovation. Soon we will be coming up with portable scanners such as pen scanner. Within 3 months we plan to come up with 15 new products,” adds Champakraj.
Maxtone’s channel strategy and target segments
For a company to be successful, besides providing good quality products, it should have the right market strategy to face the competition and should target the right customer segments. In this regard, Champakraj shares, “When we entered motherboard market, there were more than 500 brands, and today there are only 10 surviving brands. Our motherboard brand is an established brand today. We do not buy and trade like others. Our products are unique and time-tested. We have our own labs where we test everything repeatedly. Then only we order componentsand then assemble them. Before we launch products, we examine them and study each of them separately for several months. We use high-class components both for inner quality and outer look. We do not want a single product returned as a reject. This is our motto. There are a lot many competitorsin the market no doubt, but once customers use our products,they will come back to us in more numbers.”
Next important thing for a provider is proper distribution policy and network and an effective service policy. “We already have good presence in Mumbai and we have our own mobile shops and as many as 800 channel partners through whom our products could be made available. Many mobile shops know us very well. In Mumbai we already have 400 mobile shops willing to store our products. In a few months time, we will touch 1000. For other regions, we are initially recruiting 2 or 3 distributors in each state. Our new accessories and peripherals are not only for smartphones but also for IT products such as tablets. IT and mobile shops as well as corporates will be our targets. Corporates want their employees to carry powerbanks because they do not want their work to suffer. We also have cables for chargers where there is a light while charging. The color of the light will automatically change once charge is full. You do not have to pick up the phone and see if it is charged or not. For branding, we are providing danglers and brochures to the shops. Nearly 70% of mobile users do not know what a powerbank is. We want to create this awareness among users. Also we are promoting through magazines which reach different corporates. Soon we will come up with more aggressive branding plans. We are giving 1 yr warranty on our products. We test and assess our products very well and put lots of efforts and time on QC. We test our products through performing discharge-charge cycles multiple number of times for one month besides performing other tests. We are confident that even if we sell 1000 products, not a single one will be returned. But accidentally if someone comes back with a faulty product, we instructed all our partners to just replace the product, do not repair. Our products are not cheap but are affordable and cost-effective.”
Maxtone wants to be among the top 3 players with 20 to 25% market share
Regarding other non-mobile IT products and overall future plans, Champakraj asserts, “We already have our own motherboards. Now we have box with Minix brand name that can convert media TV into smart TV. The box has memory, wi fi and everything. You can download any movie. Your TV becomes something like PC. You do not have to spend money to buy a smart TV. This product has a great demand in the market today. We are expecting to hit 20 to 25% market share in the coming years for mobile powerbanks and peripherals. We want to be in top 3 brands in the country. Good quality, better features and affordable price are our main selling points. We are sure that we are going to make it big in the country within a short period.”