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Western Digital Scores over Rivals, Says Channel
By
Avinab Datta
Mumbai, Jun 27, 2008
Western Digital (WD) hard drives seem to be ruling the roost -- at least, that's what a majority of resellers at Lamington Road would vouch for! After a couple of visits, this reporter gathered that WD's pricing, extended warranty, after-sales support, besides of course, its marketing muscle seem to have done the trick for the company, more so, its hard drives.
Rival Seagate had been luring customers with a five-year warranty for long. WD too jumped into the fray, adding two more years to its existing three-year warranty. Ever since, Seagate hasn't been quite able to capitalize on sales in the same way, we were told.
Said Lalita Karke of 'Ideas and Options,' a Lamington Road-based retailer, "Western digital packed in a punch at the right time. End users always wanted to buy Western Digital hard drives; the warranty made it an easier choice for them."
However, she did say, "Even Hitachi has been making a mark of late," meaning both Seagate and WD now have a third market presence to contend with.
The other important factor that seems to have worked in favor of WD vis- -vis Seagate is its pricing. An 80GB entry-level hard drive from WD costs anything between Rs 2,450 and Rs 2,650 while the same from Seagate puts you down by a good Rs 2,600 to Rs 2,800. Add to this, an effective after-sales support system which the company seems to have established, and you have a winner on hand! We were told that several customers keep coming back with complaints about Seagate hard drives; not so, WD. Further, the come-backs are rarely addressed, and if at all, not adequately enough. "Seagate products develop bad sectors, and customers run around looking for a troubleshooter, which they often don't find. Hence, their warranty comes of no use," said Peyush Gor of 'Shree Semi-Conductors,' again a Lamington Road-based retailer.
By contrast, there is enough evidence to show that there aren't so many complaints about WD hard drives. And in case there are issues, they are addressed promptly and adequately. Moral of the story: both consumers and resellers end up singing praises of WD and its hard drives.
What is the strategy of this company? What is it that WD seems to be doing different or differently from the rest of the pack, we asked Sharad Shrivastava, Director Sales (India and South Asia). This is what he had to say, "Warranty support is extremely important as customers need to be reassured of the brand that they have purchased. WD has launched the 'WD Express' warranty replacement program wherein the company collects in-warranty WD hard drives from, and delivers replacement WD drives directly to, the homes and businesses of its India customers, including distributors, resellers, and end customers. The service is available only on in-warranty WD hard drives sold through our authorized India distribution channel."
Shrivastava also stressed on the importance of their technical support center, saying the center's toll-free number is part of their constant endeavor to make an optimum service support system available to customers. Commenting on the role played by channel partners, Shrivastava said, "Our channel partners play a major role in both selling as well as popularizing our products. The channel serves as our 'feet on the street' so to speak. I feel that the channel-vendor relationship is an enduring one, and it is doubtful that vendors alone will be successful in tapping the end-customers directly."
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WD---WRONG DEVELOPMENT |
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- ADARSH,
SAI SOLUTIONS, KOTA
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ALL DREAMS NEVER FULFILLS. PRICE OR WRONG COMMITMENTS WILL BE A GREAT HURDLE FOR WESTERN DIGITAL . I THINK FIRSTOF ALL WESTERN DIGITAL SHOULD IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HARD DRIVE & THEN GIVE THE COMMITMENTS . MY EXPERIENCE OF LAST 10 YEARS IN HARD DRIVE MARKET SAYS THAT THE DEALERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE LIABILITY BY SELLING WESTERN DIGITAL DRIVES. |
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- NAVDEEP GOYAL,
SILVERLINE INFO, AHMEDABAD
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my personal opinion is Free Agent drives (under Seagate brand ) r better in quality and featers compared to those of w.d . |
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- inderjeet garg,
softline techno, outer goa
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Western digital is one of the worst hard disk we have used , Their distributors have no idea about the product line that they carry. I had faced a waranty issue where the drive was returned to me after 30days and still the problem was unsolved .The end user nearly took me to consumer forum for this issue , i had to make a loss from my pocket and returened his money . I request sharad shrivatav to contact me and refund my money back and take the drive if he is any true in his comments.The drive is still lying as junk in my office .I am soon planning a case against the distributor and the company.
Pls don`t mislead people .Get your ethics in line before boasting about ur ownself. Don`t u see ur face in the mirror when u get up. |
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- nagendra,
s.r infotech, belgam(karnataka)
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this is all the efforts of MR Dalpat from Inspan and Mr Dhiren from Compuage who have done a great job in creating a brand presence in lamington Road. |
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- Ashok,
navneet compute, mumbai
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ONE OF THIRD CLASS HDD IN IT INDUSTRIES IS WESTERN DIGITAL WE HAVE SEEN,IT S BECAUSE ONE OF THE bakwas WARRANTY SUPPORT THAT THEY GIVE WHICH WE HAVE FACED ONE OF REDCULAS PROBLEMS IN WARRANTY BY GETTING BACK IN 45 DAYS 4 TO 5 TIMES IN THAT SENSE SEGATE GIVES TECHNICAL SUPPORT AS WELL AS 3 DAYS WARRANTY SUPPORT., IN THAT SENSE WE ALSO DONT NO WHAT MODELS COMES IN WD WHAT ARE THERE TECHNICAL SPEX. IN C CLASS CITIES , WHERE SEGATE HAS CONDUCTED HERE TECHNICAL MEET TWICE OVER HERE AND GUIDE THE DEALERS., WITH THERE TECHNICAL TEAM, |
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- DHARMESH HINDOC,
ANYWAY IT SOLUT, RAJKOT
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