Seagate maintains leadership
 No surprises in who leads channel mindshare in the HDD segment. Seagate continues to lead in the channel satisfaction index followed by Western Digital (WD), Hitachi and Samsung.
The big disappointment in 2008 was Samsung. The vendor, which was ranked number two in 2007, lost channel confidence owing to the change in its distribution set-up that resulted in inconsistent supplies throughout 2008. Many will recollect that last year Samsung moved to an import-based model managed from Singapore. The deficiency in supplies led to major inflows in parallel imports, which in turn, led to warranty issues, significantly impacting channel preference for the brand.
WD and Hitachi benefited from Samsung’s decline. Many loyal Samsung sub-distributors aligned with WD due to lack of direction from Samsung. But Samsung tried to put its house in order toward the end of 2008 by appointing SES Technologies as its national distributor and service partner.
Price-performance
Although Seagate is premium-priced, with an MOP 10-15 percent higher than competitors, it is still the most preferred because the common perception is that it’s the best-performing product. Hitachi is ranked at number two with a higher quality and performance perception than WD. It is considered to have less in-warranty failures than WD.
In terms of pricing, Hitachi has the lowest MOP, followed by WD, Samsung and Seagate. For the entry-level 160 GB product, Hitachi has an MOP of Rs 1,500, WD Rs 1,600, Samsung around Rs 1,800, while Seagate is priced the highest at Rs 1,900.
Product availability
Seagate is the most widely available brand in all the cities polled by CRN. While WD has improved its coverage and availability as compared to 2007, it suffers from low availability in the east. Hitachi has weak market coverage in the north and south, and lacks availability in tier-3 and tier-4 cities. Samsung was plagued by inconsistent availability throughout the year.
Marketing & branding
Seagate has etched out the reputation of being a superior quality product. It is the brand with the maximum customer-pull across all geographies. Samsung, which too enjoys substantial brand awareness and customer-pull, saw many resellers de-selling it due to lack of availability and warranty issues. WD enjoys a certain brand awareness and customer-pull, while Hitachi continues to be a push brand.
Seagate also ranked higher in marketing with regular local promotions and channel schemes. It’s also timely in sending out information about new products and price changes. One consistent feedback from respondents was that WD needs to improve its channel communication to convey information about price changes and incentive schemes more effectively.
Service & support
Seagate was rated to have the best warranty support among all four HDD brands, followed by WD, Hitachi and Samsung. Seagate also has the lowest repair and replacement times. Besides, its door-to-door warranty service is more efficient than WD’s. Hitachi has limited coverage for its door-to-door service, and it’s not presently available in smaller cities.
Samsung saw an escalation in warranty issues. There was considerable increase in DoA and in-warranty failures. What further compounded the issue was the service providers’ refusal to provide warranty claiming the products were not sold through authorized channels.
Channel relationship
Policies and relationships contribute substantially to creating confidence among channels. While warranty issues are commonplace for every brand, what often makes a vendor more preferred is how these issues are handled by its channel executives when escalated. Channel satisfaction is often dictated by the quality of the response received in times of distress. In terms of channel responsiveness, channels voted Seagate as the number one vendor, followed by WD, Hitachi and Samsung.
Respondents opined that Seagate has the most consistent channel policy. Having worked with the vendor for a long time, respondents said they enjoy a certain familiarity and rapport with its managers. Also, the company has better channel programs with ample benefits for authorized partners. Back-end payouts are timely and the process is smooth.
Resellers polled believe that with Samsung faltering, WD has a great opportunity to climb to the number two spot in marketshare, but for that to happen it will need to have better channel programs, improve its communication, and get more aggressive with marketing.
Winner in the Hard Disk Drive Category in Channel Champions 2007
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