Playing by the manual!
After a relatively healthier first half in 2007, consumer durable majors prepare themselves for the kill

(column by Sreoshi Ghose)

In a country as diverse as India, with so many cultural & language barriers, one can well imagine the difficulties marketers face while customising their offerings for different regions. But in the consumer durables sector, seemingly the Korean effect has transcended much above all such barriers to connect to the Indian populace & taken an unfathomable position of strength, which even the Indian incumbents have been unable to match thus far.

As per the sector norm, the Korean majors LG & Samsung dominated the consumer durables market in India so far this year, followed by the ‘Indian multinational’ Videocon. LG posted a remarkable average growth of 20%, posting a sales turnover Rs.50 billion. The sector, on the other hand, has posted a decent performance. “Currently the Indian durable market is estimated around Rs.200 billion... Presently, the industry is estimated to be growing at rate of 10-12%,” advocates Shushmul Maheshwari, Chief Executive, RNCOS, which is an industry research company.

Over the last few months, the market has witnessed a flurry of activities by the white goods manufacturers. While Godrej launched its Fresh Colours Range of Eon Refrigerators, Whirlpool brought out the ‘Mastermind’ refrigerator, ‘Sensation Neo’ washing machine, ‘Magicool’ air conditioners & Whirlpool 100%, fully automatic clothes dryer. On the other hand, market leader LG launched products across many categories, like star rated refrigerators, DVD with Swivel LCD screen, ACs, Chocolate Card Phone & many more. Tushar Bhattacharya, Senior Economist, FICCI, says, “The promising segments would be mostly high-end products of all the categories, with high-end ACs topping the list.”

According to Maheshwari, the advertising budget has also experienced an increase over the previous year. What with celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Kajol & Ajay Devgan & Abhishekh Bacchhan endorsing leading brands, the players are looking at every possible trick in the book to get that favourable nod from their customers. After all, its festival time coming up once more & as they say, “To the winner belong the spoils.” And as usual, the Korean players will be the ones to beat, if the others are aiming to take the top honours.

(End of Sreoshi Ghose column)

Now this is not really an ‘Apple’ of the eye, eh?
After a lot of hype and hysteria, iPhone’s battery replacement issue stirs up a storm...

(column by Joe Nocera, Business Columnist, The New York Times)

Back in January Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that his company was months away from unleashing its “revolutionary” hand-held device, a machine that combined cell phone, music and Internet. Jobs screened an iPhone demo, and it was dazzling – so beautiful & elegant it could have been designed by the gods. Who had ever seen such a gorgeous screen? Or such amazing functionality in so slim a package? Or so many sweet new touches?

On June 29, the iPhone finally went on sale, with a heft y price tag of $599, for an 8-gigabyte iPhone. But it was on June 27, that the first reviews were published. Apple had allowed only four select reviewers, including Walter S. Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal & David Pogue of The New York Times, to test the iPhone. They all raved. “A beautiful and breakthrough computer,” wrote Mossberg. “It does things no phone has ever done before,” wrote Pogue. But Pogue also pointed out that “it lacks features found even on the most basic phones,” and in the course listed a number of drawbacks. But deep in Pogue’s review came the paragraph that shocked me. He pointed out that the iPhone doesn’t have a removable battery, Pogue wrote: “Apple says the battery starts to lose capacity after 300 to 400 charges. Eventually, you’ll have to send the phone to Apple for battery replacement, much as you do now with an iPod, for a fee.”

Huh? That couldn’t be, could it? Did Apple really expect people to mail their iPhones to Apple headquarters and wait for the company to return it with a new battery? It was bad enough that the company did that with the iPod – but a cell phone? Cell phones have become a critical part of daily life, something we can barely do without for an hour, much less days at a time. “Apple will service every battery that needs to be replaced in an environmentally friendly matter,” said Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman. He went on: “With up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback & over 10 days of standby time, iPhone’s battery life is longer than any other smartphone.” This response didn’t even attempt to answer the question that how Apple planned to service its batteries. With Apple taking the position that the battery replacement issue was not something it needed to share with reporters – much less buyers of the iPhone – I went elsewhere in search of answers. I talked to design experts and technology geeks. I wanted to know why Apple had made a cell phone without a removable battery in the first place; it seemed like such an extreme act of consumer unfriendliness. If the iPod was any guide to go by, batteries were inevitably going to run down. With most cell phones, when the battery has problems, you take it to a store, buy a new battery, let the salesman pop it in, and start using it again. So why wasn’t Apple willing to do that?

However, many were not remotely bothered by the removable battery issue. My assumption was that if the battery does indeed last for 300 to 400 charges, it will probably start to lose its capacity in about a year, at least for heavy users. Of course the iPhone warranty also lasts a year, so by this calculation the batteries will need to be replaced just as the warranty runs out. Meaning that iPhone customers will have to pay for a new battery instead of getting it free – just like the iPod. Those who are dismissive of the battery issue are saying, essentially, that when the two years are up, and the battery needs to be replaced, customers will purchase a new & improved iPhone instead. That’s why it is a non-issue for them. Besides, don’t most cell phone users get a new phone within two years? The answer, of course, is yes. But most cell phone purchases are heavily discounted – costing $100 or less – and are tied to an extension of the service contract. Is Apple really going to play that game? I’m betting the answer is no. Buying a new iPhone is going to be an expensive proposition for the foreseeable future – which of course is great for Apple’s bottom line, but not so great for its customers.

(End of Joe Nocera column)

‘Windows’ on the web!
Interestingly, many small applications are now big business platforms

(column by Aveena Lopes)

No one would have imagined how integral a part the internet would play in our lives as it does today. Now, life without the internet is unthinkable for the growing number of patrons who are part of this revolution. “Always on pervasive broadband is making access to the internet easy enough for it is no longer to be considered ‘technology’ but a part of the fabric of modern living, like telephone & television,” points out Michael Azoff , Senior Analyst with Butler Group.

And as the internet has evolved in its size & scope, the end user’s needs have also evolved, in tandem. This transition has had a domino effect, creating wider scopes for soft ware developers, which is why we see websites evolving from just being brilliant ideas to popular web applications & then moving on to become an integral platform for the user of today. Names like Yahoo, eBay, Amazon & their likes have opened their websites to developers, who have created wonders; expanding their functionality & converting them into multi-billion dollar monsters.

What started out as mere social networking tools have, in turn, become the base, picked up by many companies to accomplish their business tasks, like the introduction of Google’s own office suite. Apart from this, products like Writely have amazing features that help you get your documents in Word format by means of import & export & other features like embedded images, conversion to PDF & drag-drop functions to name a few. Another genius in its own field is Salesforce.com, which carts vital services like CRM through the web.

With the internet looking to be the new Operating System, & tiny web applications attaining iconic status, it isn’t surprising why new players in the medium are sprouting up everyday with killer ideas & novel offerings of their own. So, which rising applications today would be the business hub of tomorrow? “If anyone could answer that, they would get rich quick! There are many ideas businesses are trying – innovative websites. Consumer led mash-ups, which underpin Web 2.0, are now being considered for businesses: so are agile business processes, new revenue streams from re-using existing processes” says Michael Azoff.

According to him, Rich Web Applications (RWA) will play an increasing role in IT. They would enable large-scale application development (in general), Enterprise Web Development (Business Web 2.0) & the presentation layer for SOA. He feels that RWA will play an important part in the human-machine interface, & utility computing will also pick up in a big way.

With everyone putting their bets on different entries, the competition does look alive & thriving, as soft ware developers continue with their mission to provide richer user interfaces. However, while it’s clear that a lot is being done at amazingly fast rates in the era of Web 2.0, the internet still has quite a while to cross before it displaces the PC operating systems completely!

(End of Aveena Lopes column)

No fear, Google’s here...
Google’s small business solution

(column by Shashank Shekhar)

If you run a small business with a limited web presence & absolutely no mechanisms of letting your customers search your website, $100 is what you would require to empower your business with search expediency of Google. To the delight of the small businesses, Google has launched its Custom Search Business Edition (CSBE) which overcomes the hurdles of cost & complexities that confront the small businesses & allows their customers to search their websites. “Millions of businesses have a web presence but offer users no ability to search their site,” said Dave Girouard, Vice President & General Manager, Google Enterprise. “While many of these businesses invest in search advertising & search engine optimisation, customers are left on their own to navigate content once they land on a site.”

With the new paid version, an enhancement with improved & customisable features, small business would be able to draw help from Google’s vast tech infrastructure. Further they can alter search page designs & feed in their own websites deriving more value of the individual browser’s click & also re-directing possible business opportunities. The service is available for $100 per year for websites with up to 5,000 pages & $500 per year for those with pages between 5,000 & 50,000.

Another important feature of CSBE is the fact that customers are empowered to turn off those ugly looking ‘out of context’ advertisements with an XML feed. Not only this, CSBE also offers reporting behaviour that gives an insight into customer’s behaviour, allows the business to fully customise search results & also provides e-mail & phone support through the Google Enterprise Group. Thus with CSBE, Google looks all set at further strengthening its hold in the business application segment. Well, with literally millions of small business websites ripe for picking, Google for sure has unearthed a goldmine in the form of small businesses.

(End of Shashank Shekhar column)

‘Rediff ’ine sharing!
Rediff enters content sharing space

(column by Surbhi Chawla )

These aren’t exactly the times for sharing your possessions with the needy! But in the cyber arena, opportunities for sharing keep on increasing. Taking a cue from the makers of ‘YouTube’, Rediff has also plunged into the content sharing space. With the launch of its portal titled ‘iShare’, Rediff is now offering a platform for sharing content & also allows social networking. The iShare service allows its users to share videos, music & pictures, allowing them to log in with the help of their existing rediff ail id.

Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman & CEO, Rediff .com, says, “The increasing usage of technology & the means becoming affordable, we believe that iShare will provide users a context to connect & enjoy a more comprehensive multimedia experience.” However, the journey would not be a cake walk for iShare as it would have to face competition from the likes of YouTube. Since Google had picked up YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion, hence indirectly Rediff would have to tackle the mighty Google in India.

Even in the social networking space, Rediff would have to deal with the likes of Orkut & Facebook, who have already gained popularity amongst millions of users worldwide. Considering the penetration these websites have already achieved, iShare can definitely be termed as a late entrant. However Manish Agarwal, VP, Marketing, Rediff .com remains optimistic when he says, “We are a bit different & in cities like Delhi are always keen to explore newer technologies.”

In terms of business model, however, iShare has nothing unique to offer. Balakrishnan says, “We are looking for revenues from advertising & we are already in talks with a lot of companies for placing advertisements.” Overall, this jammed move from Rediff will require tremendous investment & technical expertise to overcome initial jitters.

(End of Surbhi Chawla column)