LAHORE: Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior Sales Director at Western Digital Corporation (WDC), Middle East and Pakistan, has said that Pakistan is an emerging market, considering the high growth potential when it comes to consumer electronics, a segment which was projected to reach US 444 million dollars in 2020, with a year-to-year growth of 66.3 percent.
He expressed these views while talking to Business Recorder here on Thursday. He further said that the annual growth rate of 10.5 percent is expected to churn a market volume of US 663 million dollars by 2024; this will cause the user penetration to reach 7.2 percent the same year.
He observed that Pakistan's 63 percent of the population ranges from 15 and 33 years old (according to the UN Population Fund Report) and youngsters just like in any other expanding country are tech savvy.
"This makes Pakistan a promising market for consumable goods, including consumer electronics," he added. The Western Digital Corporation, a global data infrastructure leader, has recently officially launched its operations in Pakistan and introduced a new range of data storage devices.
Talking about the business and operation expansion plan in Pakistan, he said that they already have a presence in the major cities of Pakistan and plan to penetrate further ensuring their official presence for end-users to benefit from.
"Our potential customers are people from any walk of life who are looking for reliable storage solutions that fit their unique needs. Pakistan has millions of individuals who use data digitally. We have recognized this opportunity and provided storage solutions for their needs, by offering high-performance, high-capacity and high-quality storage solutions to fit the increasingly digital lifestyles of consumers," he added.
Talking about their formal launch, he said that one of the major benefits is of having their official presence and hence being available for their customers in Pakistan post-sales also, which means the Western Digital will be able to serve them better and directly.
"Similarly, our vast product portfolio will now be available for people to choose from, something that was limited earlier on. To provide peace of mind and post-purchase assurance to our consumers we offer three years, five years and a lifetime warranty on a different set of products. At Western Digital, we understand the magnitude of this market, which is why we have expanded our distribution channels, so that more people can have access to our products," he added. To a question, he said that data is the new currency and thus this ultimately fuels the need for reliable storage solutions.
"Data security is of utmost importance for every single user and it is not just a matter of keeping that data secure from viruses, it is also about using reliable storage devices that will not result in damaging it. This is why it is not only important to have a data backup but also security and our devices offer encryption as well which safeguards the user's data in its entirety," he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020