SPREADING OUT

Calcutta, Sept. 10: Moser Baer India Ltd, a leading CD and DVD maker, has entered the IT peripherals market with the launch of CD drives and writers.

The company is targeting a 20 per cent share of the market which has monthly sales of five lakh units. Taiwan’s Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions is the company’s partner in the project. Products will be sold under the brand name of Moser Baer-Lite-On.

Deepak Puri, chairman and managing director, Moser Baer India Ltd, said, “We see a lot of potential and latent demand in the PC peripheral market in India and will carve a niche for ourselves in this segment too.”

He said the same quality consciousness that has been the hallmark of its existing businesses in blank optical discs, photovoltaic cells and entertainment would get reflected in the foray into peripherals.

The company will bank on its brand recall amongst drive manufacturers and leverage its extensive distributor network. Initially, the product will be launched in the five metros — Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

“The launch complements our existing optical media business and we are hoping that by leveraging our established strong brand equity we will emerge as a front-runner with a significant market share in this segment too,” said Bhaskar Sharma, executive vice president, Moser Baer India Ltd.

The size of the PC and notebook market is estimated at Rs 20,000 crore and the peripherals industry, Rs 12,000 crore.