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Networking major D-Link to make motherboards

Frederick Noronha in Panaji

Goa-based networking success story D-Link has entered the motherboards segment hoping aggressive pricing would help it emerge among the top three companies in the segment.

The motherboards, to be sold under the brand name 'Digilink', will be made to suit Indian conditions, the company said.

Its first model, DMB-815EM, has an Intel 815E chipset microZTX board - one of the popular models worldwide -- and is being made at its Goa plant.

"We started manufacturing these just weeks ago," said a plant official. Company sales director Prabhod Vyas said the ambitious plans of reaching the top three in a year "definitely seems achievable," given the firm's earlier successes.

D-Link India Ltd, whose corporate slogan is 'building networks for the people', has gained a reputation for cost-effective modems, hubs, switches, routers and passive cabling products. The company has financial participation from D-Link Corporation of Taiwan since March 1995.

The company argues it achieved the top position in modems and number three position in structured cabling products within a year of their launch, in the past, making the motherboards target seem achievable.

Company officials said the plant would manufacture "P-III and lower" motherboards, since the demand for P4 was yet to pick up significantly.

D-Link India Ltd managing director K R Naik is also upbeat about the potential of voice over Internet protocol, or simply put, the use of the Internet to make international and long-distance calls.

"This is going to be approved next year," he says. Till now, the use of relatively inexpensive VoIP has been banned in India.

Calling itself an "early player" in the VoIP field, the company notes that VoIP can help businesses and individuals save "huge" long-distance and international phone charges.

By VoIP gateways and phone devices, callers can simply dial on ordinary phones to talk and send faxes anywhere in the world while literally paying phone charges of a local Internet call.

D-Link has a distribution agreement with Clarent, US, for selling VoIP products. It has also tied up with Lanner Electronics of Taiwan for touch-screen, kiosk and industrial PC products.

D-Link set up its first networking manufacturing plant in Goa in 1994, and its second came up in 1999. The first two plants are spread over 20,000 and 30,000 sq feet respectively.

The third SMT (surface mount technology) line and manufacturing facility is spread over 70,000 sq. feet.

D-Link India with its current focus on networking, internetworking and structured cabling products has a manpower of 150 employees in its three plants, besides 74 in sales and marketing.

It has its headquarters in Bombay and 13 other branches. In addition, it also has some 25 employees in R&D and software development, taking its total staff to 250.

EM>Indo Asian News Service

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