The cordless click

The brand is as ubiquitous in India as the mice and keyboard that it manufactures. But the time has come, feels Logitech, to take these input devices to the next level ? cordless. ?India is a young PC market and most users are still in their first PC phase,? says Moninder Jain, country manager for the $1.5 billion Swiss peripheral devices major. ?Thus, wired mice and keyboard still constitute the majority of the market.?

But the world has moved on to cordless and the company is trying to shift the Indian consumer to that as well. Through its Cordless Desktop ? the cordless mouse and keyboard combo ? Logitech is trying to pitch, along with a wireless experience, a healthier alternative for the user.

?When you use wired peripheral devices, you have to hunch and your posture is not correct. With cordless, you can sit in a comfortable way,? says Jain.

The company is promoting the range with the campaign ?Choose your cord wisely?, asking whether users would care more about the mouse and keyboard cord or their spinal cord.

Greater purchase power and narrowing price difference are helping conversion to cordless. ?People are spending more on their PCs now. The gap between corded and cordless has come down from Rs 3,000 sometime back to Rs 1,500,? Jain says.

The products have also improved with time. Radio frequency replacing infrared as the link between the devices and the PC has eliminated the requirement for line-of-sight. ?Unlike corded mice and keyboard, cordless ones require batteries. To ensure that this is not a deterrent for users, we are even bundling rechargeable batteries and a charger with the devices,? offers Jain.

Around 300,000 mice and keyboards are sold in the country per month of which Logitech ? which has its lowest price in the world for India ? sells around 80,000 to 90,000.

Besides retail, Logitech is an original equipment manufacturer for major PC brands.

The promotional campaign, launched in March, is beginning to show results, with the cordless market growing from ?two to nine per cent?. The target is to push it up to 20 per cent by the year-end, the east willing!

?The east has the lowest penetration in the country for cordless. We are trying to change that through channel partners and campaigns on radio and television,? logs out Jain.