Western Digital or WD as it is popularly known has made its debut in the home networking products with a range of routers at affordable prices.
Khalid Wani, Sales Director IMEA, Branded Business – India, Middle East and Africa, said, “Routers have traditionally been built to optimize the Internet browsing experience for consumers. We built our routers from ground up primarily keeping in mind today’s connect home environment. “
WD launched five dual-band routers in its My Net range viz. My Net N600, My Net N750, My Net N900, My Net N900 Central 9 1TB) and My Net N900 Central (2 TB) at a price-point ranging from Rs 5,699 to Rs 25,999. “The My Net family of dual-band routers will be available at all leading electronics stores from the third week of September,” said Wani.
Currently, the industry is adopting 802.11n in all Wi-fi enabled devices. Cost-effective point-to-point and point-to-multi point Wi-Fi solutions are being developed and have begun to be adopted by a large number of households or residential societies.
Wani added, “We see consumers connecting a lot of devices in their homes and accessing those devices simultaneously. The use of Wi-Fi has moved beyond the boardroom. Content is another factor that is ruling the growth in this particular industry. A consumer today wants easy access to content available on the Internet. Also, if it’s not wireless, it affects the consumer’s mobility. Today, it’s not just about connectivity to the PC but also to your laptop, iPad, Playstation etc.”
The Wi-fi router market was estimated to be about Rs 1,730 crores in 2011 and it is expected to grow at 12-14% this year.
A common challenge with Wi-Fi networks is believed to be lower throughput. Wani said, “The lowest end router that we have supports 300 Mbps. Physical obstacles, such as tall buildings in residential societies, pose no hurdle.”
“Our products are strongly positioned to ensure that consumers get the right throughput. FasTrack technology enables advanced QoS. The M900 have been primarily designed for consumers who want to get on the Cloud,” he said.
The products are expected to hit the market by third or fourth week of September. The company has tied up with key partners for retail, e-tail and firmed up channel partners. “We are positioning really well in order to make sure we have a route to market in this product line,” Wani asserted.