Microcontrollers are some of the most widely used components in electronics systems, in the automobile and consumer electronics industries. In recent years, the microcontroller market has witnessed many technological advances and an increased number of applications—in IoT, industrial, lighting and power electronics, wireless communications, medical electronics, etc. In an interaction with Potshangbam July, Henry Charng, vice president, sales, Megawin Technology, talks about the Indian market’s response to its products, and the company’s growth strategy to drive its business forward.
EB: When did you foray into the Indian market and what has the response been to your products?
Megawin was launched in the Indian market in 2008, so we have been here for more than 10 years. In the early days in India, Megawin’s 8-bit microcontroller for cord coin-phones was a popular product with most cord coin-phone manufacturers located in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Another major application is electronic weighing scales, for which we have the highest market share. The quality of Megawin MCUs is much better than other suppliers, according to our customers, which is why we have been a leader in the electronic weighing scale segment ever since we entered the Indian market.
EB: Tell us a bit more about your product portfolio. What, according to you, is the key USP of your products?
Our product line includes 8-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers as well as USB microcontrollers. In India, our products are used in taxi meters, voltage stabilisers, vehicle trackers and other motor controls, besides electronic weighing scales.
The key USPs of Megawin products are good quality, quick delivery, competitive prices, powerful functions and the best technical support. Our most important function is to listen to our customers, and to keep improving our products till we meet their needs.
EB: Do you have any plans to launch new products in the Indian market?
We are launching a new product, the 32-bit Cortex-M0 MCU with 32K Flash memory, in October this year. We believe this MCU can bring us more customers and new applications in the Indian market.
EB: What are the key market and technology trends that you see in India and in other countries?
From our point of view, energy saving, wireless controls and Internet related applications are the key market and technology drivers in India and in other countries.
EB: What is the marketing strategy to ramp up your presence in the Indian market?
We focus on providing the products the customers need instead of the products we can design, because the competition in the MCU market is much tougher than before. Our marketing strategy has to keep pace with the customers’ requirements.
EB: Are there any criteria you look at before you ink a deal with a distributor or local agent? What is your business strategy with respect to your partners?
A good distributor can listen to and solve a customer’s problem besides having good communication with its principals. We hope to cooperate with our partners as a team and work towards overcoming the difficult challenges that stem from a competitive market.
EB: Do you think the Indian market is lucrative for your business?
In a few years, the population of India could be the highest in the world. Meanwhile, the free market oriented reforms have propelled India to achieve a 6 to 7 per cent annual GDP growth. From 2014 to 2019, India’s economy was the world’s fastest growing major economy, surpassing China. Therefore, the Indian market is good for our business in the long term. In fact, the potential of the Indian market has attracted many foreigners from all over the world, because this is a great business opportunity.
EB: What are the major challenges you encounter in the Indian market?
The challenges are to make more customers familiar with the Megawin brand name and build their confidence in our products. At present, we are quite confident of overcoming these major challenges with our distributor partners in India.
EB: What kind of growth do you expect in the next five years?
We expect our business in India to grow at a steady rate of 20 per cent per year over the next five years. All the information we have reveals that the MCU demand in India will remain high and strong over the next decade.
EB: Lastly, what do you have to say about the Indian government’s Make in India campaign?
Because the long-term growth perspective of the economy remains positive and there is sufficient young labour in India, Make in India could be powerful enough to drive India’s industrial manufacturing capabilities.
