"Asus and Gigabyte are still competitors and function as different entities, independent of each other"

The much-publicized Asus and Gigabyte joint venture had an anti-climatic
end. Today, the two companies have parted ways and Gigabyte is concentrating its
efforts on growing its motherboard and VGA card business in India

What is Gigabyte's focus area for India?

We are very focused on the motherboards, VGA cards and thin clients business
in India.

So the joint venture with Asus never worked out?

No, the joint venture with Asus did not work out. They are still our
competitors and we both function as different entities, independent of each
other.

What was the reason for the failure of the joint venture between Asus and
Gigabyte?

We tried to go ahead with the joint venture but faced lot of pressure from
our vendors and customers. OEMs buying our components preferred us as an
independent entity. Also a vendor would not like the price he has quoted to us
to be known to our competitor in the same space, which was what would have
happened had we continued with the joint venture. It was also creating a lot of
confusion with our customers.

What is the status quo of the joint venture currently?

When we announced the alliance, it was decided that Gigabyte and Asus would
share some revenue. It was also decided that Gigabyte would keep its R&D
separate. But Asus never invested or transferred any funds into our account and
therefore there was no revenue sharing. The alliance was only on paper. We still
are competitors.

Has the announcement about the joint venture and then the announcement
that it was not happening heightened the confusion for your customers?

Actually, when we announced that we were not going ahead with the joint
venture, it settled a lot of confusion. The customers were okay with this
decision and several even came back to us saying that it was a good move on our
part.

In fact, last year following the announcement of the tie-up, there was a lot
of confusion and key Gigabyte personnel, including me, were traveling trying to
make our stand clear to the channel and the other industry people. Now, everyone
knows that things are back to what they were pre-tie-up and are at ease with it.

What is your game plan for India for the next quarter?

Traditionally, Q3 is the most important quarter for the worldwide
motherboard market. Microsoft had announced the OEM version of Vista nine months
ago and the end-user version has been out for seven months. This has given
Microsoft ample time to resolve any issues arising with the widespread usage of
Vista.

Our motherboards and VGA cards have been Vista-ready for a very long time
now. So now with the adoption of Vista, we expect a good uptake of our products.
We expect good sales of VGA cards and motherboards in the mid- and high-end
business, where we forecast increased acceptance of Vista.

How are you helping the channel to drive this growth further?

For the channel, we will be coming out with reward programs for the best
performing partners. This could include prizes that range from a mobile to a
mobike. We have been conducting this for several quarters now. But we plan to
intensify our program this quarter.

Besides this, we have our annual channel meet coming up in Goa later this
year. We plan to invite 200 partners and bring down our high-level executives to
speak to them at this two-day event. This will also be the ideal location to
share our product roadmap. We have also launched some new products at Computex
recently and we will explain its technical nuances to channel community in
interactive sessions.

Which product lines are you focused on most in Q3?

Our new Intel Bearlike chipset for the desktop is of prime focus. These
include P35, G35, G33, G31 and X38.

How have you managed to make your products more robust?

Usually the hottest area on a motherboard is the area surrounding the CPU.
Due to high heat, the performance of the system is affected and it also makes
the PCB brittle enough to break. We have devised a way to attack this heat to
make the mobo cooler by almost 30 c degree celsius.

Also, we have noticed that a lot of users in countries like India do not have
an air conditioner and work in dusty environments, which is why these cooler
motherboards will reduce heat-related problems.

Another key feature is the fanless motherboards that we have devised with no
moving parts. We have learnt that any equipment with a fan has around 200 hours
of lifespan, especially with moving components. Therefore we simply removed the
fan.

A lot of your marketing activities are aimed at the channel. But now that
even end-users are showing an interest in the motherboards, would there be a
change in your strategy?

Yes, this is true. Earlier partners would decide what would go into a PC,
but now even users are showing an increased interest and awareness of what
components they want. Last year, we participated in some gaming events, which is
something we will do this year as well. We will also have some seminars aimed at
the end-users to increase awareness about our products and its features.

The motherboard goes into the PC and therefore we can't really do overt
advertising. In the end, we have realized that the best branding exercise we can
do is to have a good product.

Partners have been complaining about the post-sales support offered by
Gigabyte. What are you doing to improve on this?

Yes, it is true that there were some issues about our post-sales support.
This is why we have made it a point to keep buffer stocks at our 16 RMA centers.
This way, we can bring down our turnaround time, which are currently three to 10
days.

Also, we have a policy that if we are unable to repair a damaged motherboard
within a stipulated time, we offer customers a higher-end motherboard model
instead.

VINITA BHATIA

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in

Gigabyte United Inc showcased its latest range of Ultra Durable 2 motherboards including sneak peaks of the GA-X38T-DQ6 and GA-X38-DQ6, both supporting the upcoming Intel X38 chipset as well as the GA-M790-DQ6 with support for the AMD RD790 chipset at Computex recently. Featuring components such as ferrite core choke coils, low RDS MOSFETs and Japanese manufactured SMD mounted solid capacitors; these motherboards ensure cooler working temperatures and enhanced overclocking capabilities. The Taiwanese event was the world's first live demos of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 2 platforms based on the Intel X38 series chipset. Supporting the upcoming 45nm Intel multi-core processors, the GA-X38T-DQ6 and GA-X38-DQ6 provide advanced PCI Express 2.0 support with true dual x16 connectivity to deliver the extreme multi-GPU performance gamers have long been waiting for. In addition, the GA-X38T-DQ6 supports DDR3 memory up to 1333MHz for lightning fast memory performance with ultra low power consumption. The company also displayed a wide range of its Intel P35 based motherboards including the new GA-P35T-DQ6. On the AMD side, Gigabyte presented the GA-M790-DQ6, featuring the AMD RD790 chipset and support for the new AMD Phenom quad-core processors, with the latest socket AM2+ support, integrated DDR2 1066 memory controller, HyperTransport 3.0 technology links and 128-bit Floating Point Units. The GA-M790-DQ6 also features support for PCI Express 2.0 as well as ATI CrossFire with dual x16, or four-x8 connectivity. Gigabyte United Inc displaying its latest range of Ultra Durable 2 motherboard at Computex in Taiwan