Tech Shout!

Kingston has completed 20 successful years dominating the memory and storage product’s market worldwide. Operating in several countries, the company announced its presence in India last year. TechShout.com had earlier conducted an interview with the then Kingston India, Country Manager, Mr. Rajesh Panicker.

In September, Kingston Technology Company, Inc., appointed Mr. Nitin Malhotra as its India Country Manager. Based in Mumbai, Malhotra has been a part of the company since its inception in the country, and now he takes on the responsibility for the company’s business affairs in the Indian subcontinent.

At the recently held Asia IT Expo 2007, TechShout.com got an opportunity to catch up with the man himself. We had a little rendezvous with Mr. Malhotra, where he spoke about the company’s upcoming products, its presence in India and lots more, Read on to know what!

TS: What is the main reason behind Kingston’s participation at the Asia IT Expo 2007 event?

NM: This exhibition is essentially on the marketing side. This is Kingston India’s very first public event. We want come out and let people know that Kingston, the No. 1 brand in the world is here. We want to establish our presence in the Indian corporate and consumer market. It’s all about visibility and showcasing Kingston’s latest brand of products.

TS: What can we expect from Kingston India in the coming few months?

NM: Kingston has recently launched the SDHC 4GB cards, Mobile Card readers, 9-in1 Mobilite Card Reader in India. In addition, we have also introduced the DDR3 in the memory module sector. There are several new ones coming soon that you need to wait and watch out for!

TS: Who is the recently-introduced Kingston Ultra Low-latency DDR3 HyperX Memory Modules targeted at?

NM: The newly launched Kingston Ultra Low-latency DDR3 HyperX Memory Modules are aimed chiefly at the gaming section. Presently it is not available in India, and worldwide too the sales figures are not very impressive. For the DDR3, a lot depends on the processor companies. How these companies push the platform for DDR3 modules to be accepted with these processors. Thus, a lot needs to be done on that platform. A lot depends on the acceptability of these modules and on the processor manufacturing companies and how they push their processors and the masses accept it thereafter.

TS: How has the launch of the Windows Vista OS affected Kingston and its products’ sales?

NM: The minimum memory requirement for Windows Vista is 1GB and Kingston is already there in this space since long. Infact, Kingston is also into 2GB space. The sales of Kingston products for the Vista are pretty good. 1GB is the entry-level parameter for any system. So essentially, Vista has not helped boost the 1GB sales, which is the entry level memory module for any systems.

TS: What is the main reason behind Kingston’s participation at the Asia IT Expo 2007 event?

NM: This exhibition is essentially on the marketing side. This is Kingston India’s very first public event. We want come out and let people know that Kingston, the No. 1 brand in the world is here. We want to establish our presence in the Indian corporate and consumer market. It’s all about visibility and showcasing Kingston’s latest brand of products.

TS: Since Kingston has made several gaming-related products, what would be your personal take on gaming in India?

NM: Honestly, gaming in India is still at a nascent stage. Just one message to all those parents and people who are a little apprehensive about gaming, there’s just one thing I want to say –“Gaming is not Gambling.” So allow them to play games on their PCs, consoles and all other gaming platforms.

TS: What are the future plans for widening the product profile in the memory market?

NM: To begin with, Kingston has the largest product offering in memory. There are around 2000+ products in the memory range alone. We are a technology company, we keep innovating things. We are technology drivers when it comes to the fortes of memory modules and memory products. Kingston plans to continue doing that and offer as many products to our end consumers, channel partners and OEMs.