D-Link to set up testing lab in India

May establish software development centre as well in a year

Networking solutions provider D-Link is planning to set up a testing lab in India in the second half of this year to ensure better localisation, its chairman A P Chen said.

At present, D-Link has testing labs in Russia, which was its biggest market until recently, South America, China and Taiwan.

The testing lab will be set up in Goa. Besides the lab, D-Link will have its own service centre and support system for repairing in the Goa facility. “We also have plans to serve markets like Sri Lanka, Australia and Singapore from the Indian testing lab,” Chen added.

The company is also evaluating possibilities of establishing a software development centre in India within a year, said Chen.

However, there is no immediate plan to start manufacturing in India. At present, India accounts for about seven to eight per cent of D-Link’s global revenue and is growing at more than 20 per cent annually. “We may look at setting up a production unit here in the future if there is a certain scale,” he said.

Chen said the company had witnessed a decline in sales in the US, Europe and Russia. At present, Europe has emerged as the largest market for D-Link with about 22 per cent of its global revenue.

In India, D-Link is planning to start D-Link Direct Service (DDS) for consumers so that it would pick up faulty products directly from the consumers’ place and instantly replace it with a new product.

Meanwhile, D-Link Holding Mauritius, the 100 per cent subsidiary of D-Link Corp, which holds a 60.37 per cent stake in listed D-Link India, is reportedly planning to delist the Indian arm.