India OEM

The traditional Australian channel is facing a new challenger as a large second-hand goods provider, Network Hardware Resale (NHR), sets its sights on an aggressive expansion strategy that includes Australia.

In the next 12 to 18 months, NHR intends to reach into new markets by providing small to mid-sized enterprises with a range of second-hand products and networking alternatives  in turn providing cost savings of 50 to 90 per cent off original equipment manufacturer (OEM) list prices.

Its not just pre-owned equipment, either. Some 30 per cent of its resale equipment is brand new as the company also buys new products from OEM channels, due to cancelled orders or bankruptcies.

NHR is a big company. It currently covers the Hong Kong, Taiwan, South-East Asian nations, India, Korea, Japan and A/NZ markets and sells directly through its online site.

SPECIAL REPORT: Should the channel be worried? - ARNnet

The Falcon 2000S is a lower-cost deriviative of the Falcon 2000. The 2000S has less range and a less customizable cabin than the Falcon 2000, but Dassault is betting that those are trades customers will make to keep the price under $25 million.

Dassault Falcon is taking advantage of the current business jet production lull to implement more efficient production procedures, unveil new modularized interiors, continue work on its SMS new jet program and perhaps forge alliances with other OEMs as a way to expand its market footprint into new aircraft categories.

Like most other business jet OEMs, the delivery numbers for Dassault year-to-date have been less than robust. Measured in dollars for the first six months of 2011 they were down 44 percent from the same period in 2010, representing an aggregate value of $846.5 million this year versus $1.854 billion a year ago. The scorecard: 19 aircraft delivered through June versus 45 for the first six months of 2010. On a positive note, for the first half of the year the company booked 22 net new (minus cancellation) Falcon orders.

Across all of Dassault, operating income declined by 62 percent for the first half of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. However, the OEM still has plenty of cash to fund new programs, almost ¬3 billion at the end of June, even as the company finds itself being hit by both the impact of the weakened global economy and the U.S. dollars continued slide against the euro.

Dassault Prepares For Economic Upswing - Aviation International News

Join Reuters.com at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Monday (October 17) as Thomson Reuters Digital Editor Chrystia Freeland talks with Jeff Immelt, General Electric CEO and chairman of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, on the council’s efforts and the challenges facing the global economy.

TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Suzuki Motor Corp accused Volkswagen of withholding hybrid technology it had promised to share, triggering an exchange of legal threats in the increasingly acrimonious spat over their two-year-old alliance.

Japan's Suzuki has served VW with a notice of breach of contract, demanding the German company give it access to key technologies within weeks. Unless it does so, Suzuki's biggest shareholder must sell back its stake and quit the alliance, it said on Friday.

VW replied that it had provided "intensive technical support" for developing efficient engines including hybrid technology and that it was looking into its legal options.

Suzuki'S VW ultimatum: share hybrid technology or split - Reuters

With the emergence and further establishment of laptop market in the Indian region, the market potential and size for peripherals and accessories or attach products is showing tremendous growth opportunities for the channel as well as the vendor community.

As a result, accessory business is no more being considered as a side business, but is actually coming to the forefront and today it is a big and lucrative opportunity for the channel partners as well as vendors.

If we take a look back to the Indian market, in the last couple of years, the PC and the laptop market in India has seen an upward trend. As a result, the demand for the accessories that go on to add greater value to the PC or the laptop is also increasing.

According to the industry experts, the accessories market is worth over $60 million. Even though the rest of the industry is slowing down, the laptop or the notebook market is expected to grow at a healthy pace, making this an exciting time for the accessories space.

Peripherals & Accessories  Coming to the Forefront - itVARnews.net (press release)

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, plans to invest up to $25 million (Rs 125) crore in Microqual Techno Pvt Ltd, a telecom equipment manufacturing and services company.

Microqual is planning to raise $55 million (Rs 275 crore) to roll out the first batch of transmission towers and IFC is considering an investment of up to $25 million through a combination of debt (IFC A Loan) and equity/quasi-equity instruments, according to an IFC statement.

The funding from IFC will be utilised by the company to set up transmission towers in several states across northern India. Microqual is also keen to expand its reach further by bagging rights to operate in other parts of the country.

In December 2010, Headland Asian Ventures Fund 3 Ltd (HAV3), a fund advised by Headland Capital Partners Ltd (formerly HSBC Private Equity Asia Ltd), invested Rs 40 crore in Microqual Techno. The telecom equipment manufacturer had also raised around Rs 40 crore from IndoUS Venture Partners, JAFCO Investment (Asia Pacific) Ltd and BTS India Private Equity Fund in July 2007.

IFC May Invest $25M In Microqual Techno - VC Circle