Steady demand for memory related products has the company exporting most of its production into regional and far-away markets
For Dubai based Twinmos the core business of the company is memory related products. It has contract manufacturing plants in Taiwan and research and development for new products is done out of Dubai. Its product range includes flash memory cards and drives, memory modules, solid state drives, portable drives, hi-speed hubs, micro SD chips, USB 3.0 add-in cards, USB 3.0 and 2.0 cables.
Historically it started as a manufacturer of memory chips for system integrators. Even now this remains an important part of its business. System integrators who assemble desktops, servers and workstations based on bulk orders require memory chips. They also need memory chips to upgrade older systems or for after sales and repair which is a smaller part of the business. These are supplied by Twinmos.
Even large OEMS source memory chips from Twinmos. Original memory chips for established notebook brands are more expensive than the chips supplied by Twinmos. Memory upgrades prior to the final sale is a common requirement for resellers of established brands. Hence there is a demand for memory upgrades from Twinmos even for established brands.”We have a solution for all branded PCs”, says Mohd Mazharul Islam, Managing Director of Twinmos.
In the UAE, Twinmos acts as its own distributor. The Dubai operations is the hub for exports into Africa, rest of the gulf, Persian Gulf, Levant, Eastern Europe, CIS and south Asia. In other countries Twinmos uses a distributor to manage its sales and business development.
Distributors in other countries need to meet stringent terms and conditions. They are expected to send in regular three-month sales forecasts. They have to send in daily, weekly and monthly reports on sales and goods movements. Orders cycles start from the third week of the month and goods are shipped by the end of the month.
Twinmos prepares a study guide of its products, an FAQ, sales kit and actual products for demonstration for all its new distributors. The same procedure is followed when new product launches are under way. Relationships between channel partners are maintained through their contact managers.
Twinmos supports its channel partners with market knowledge, product training, technology updates and after sales service.
All goods are air shipped from the plant in Taiwan to Dubai and from Dubai to other countries. An inventory of 30 days stock is maintained in Dubai. Form its plant in Taiwan it receives goods in two types of packing. For its channel community it receives goods in bulk packing and for its retail business it receives goods in smaller packs for retail store shelves.
“There is back and forth information on inventory”, says Mazharul, since its objective is to maintain just in time stocks at its Dubai warehouse hub.
Approximately 50% of the goods imported into Dubai are re-exported by Twinmos to other countries. Out of the remaining 50% sold into the local market through its reseller community, Mazharul estimates another 30% moves out of the country. That brings the net re-exported out of Dubai to 80%. Any reduction to the 5% local duty surcharge would greatly benefit the local reseller community in their re-exports since it would drop the price point. For Twinmos it would reduce the paper work and other administrative delays in moving the goods to the local market.
With converging form factors across the flash drive and solid state drives, Mazharul’s medium term outlook is to focus on the micro SD as the driver of Twinmos’ growth.
