Hardware Business in the Age of Emerging Techs

Information technology is an ever evolving landscape. Hardware business also revamped with the rise of new technologies like AI and cloud computing. In this post covid era there is an increased demand among the households for laptop, desktops, and other IT peripherals. Yet, India is a competitive market, where there is a stiff competition among the ecommerce websites and offline resellers. 

Channel partners and resellers face several challenges. For instance, supply chain disruptions, traditional offline selling vs. online platforms, after sale services, and much more. 

Here read some insights from the partners and associations leaders about their challenges and the strategies they are adopting to overcome the obstacles.

"Business has overcome the product shortage and model shortages. Big brands are now contesting for shelf spaces and market share. The clock has turned and it is back to being a buyers market since past couple of months. Consumers have more options and an aggressive product launch is the upcoming offing. As the sale season is coming, channel has to become more aware of the best offers major brands are coming up with. Channel partners need to be work closely with the trade associations to ensure they are not short done by any vendor during this period." --CMDA Delhi Vaibhav Kalra.

"Saying that hardware partner's business is not going well at all would be wrong. At least 10-20% partners' are there who are earning great profits. Yet 80% partners are not earning much profit margins. They are barely managing after taking out all the expenses. 

The biggest challenge for partners is online market. Most customers prefer to by online, those who come to buy at our stores, they compare the prices with the E-commerce websites and it is known that as compared to offline stores online provide discounts as they get discounts from the companies. 

Secondly, nowadays, hardware companies don't have any definite policies. They sell their products to multiple dealers in a single city. This leads to increased competition, due to which dealers sell their products at discount.

Thirdly, some companies are themselves have greed for earning profits. Some Anti-virus companies, sell their software via a dealer, but after that they provide options for online renewal. For small amount of sales they are omitting the role of the dealers. 

Not only the lesser value products but also higher value products, whether they are antivirus, servers, or Desktops. Companies offer lucrative deals to the customers, which leads to eradication of dealers. Their sales representatives, offer deals to the customers and are capturing the dealer's market as well.

To overcome these issues, dealers associations should work strongly. They should take their stand and take these issues to the companies to make them understand what a dealer is facing." Rajiv Khanna Chairman JCDA (Jalandhar computer dealers association)cMedia Advisor 
PACT.

"The Indian government’s initiative to boost AI infrastructure with GPU-based servers is a major leap towards enhancing AI capabilities. It sets the stage for innovation and will fuel tech-driven economic growth. For hardware resellers and partners, the business is growing, but challenges like price competition, supply chain disruptions, and the fight between brick-and-mortar and online platforms are significant hurdles.

For the coming festival season, strategies for success should focus on building stronger relationships with OEMs, negotiating competitive pricing, offering exclusive deals, and leveraging personalized services to create a unique in-store experience." Manoj Khanna Secretary (CMDA-Delhi) Executive member -FAIITA Brand Coordination Committee.

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