K7 anti-virus, leading solutions player in the field of security, is likely to redefine the distribution model such a way that the end-reseller will be considered to be the first-level customer for the vendor and is also planning to venture into the mobile space.
In an interaction with Channel Times, Bepin Roy, VP, consumer business, India, K7 computing said, “Last financial year was more to do with the consolidation and streamlining of the business as we had made an unbelievable 400 % profit, which can be attributed only to our traditional channel. And yes, we are in the large retails and e-stores only to assure that we are present in the market. However, our focus will always be in the traditional channel.”
Stating a research that only one out of seven users have genuine anti-virus, he said that there is a large market that is still unexplored. The company is not keen on tying up with any of the vendors for pre-installed version as it would affect the traditional channel.
This year, the company will be concentrate on training the partners both on their technology and sales.
Currently the company has a national distributor, who bills 250 sub-distributors and reaches around 15 thousand resellers across the country. Revealing that K7 wants to increase its market share from last year’s 10% to 15% during the current financial year, Roy said that they will be focusing more on the non-South regions, where they are not a leading player.
After being a Indian players, the company has managed to bag 26% share in a market like Japan and feels that being a home brand is not a hindrance. “Unlike India, where price is the key factor, in Japan, every customer, before purchasing a security product, spends quality time in researching about the product. If we are able to crack a market like Japan, we are no more a home brand.”
Currently there are 100 field executives across the country and in the new model, the company will consider the end-reseller as the first-level customer and the company assures that they will be taken care to the fullest.
Mobile entry:
“With the lines getting blurred among the computing devices, K7 is likely to foray into all form-factors and soon we will be officially announcing the launch of the mobile and tablet products which will be a serial-number based. We will be looking at mobile phone resellers along with the traditional IT partners,” Roy said concluding that the test versions are available already in the Google play and will be soon available in other applications also.
