Audible leases ally's China assembly line

Audible Dynamics India, based in Bangalore, has leased an assembly line of an audio equipment facility in China owned by RMC Technologies of Germany. The company has invested Rs 4 crore for this arrangement which can make around 25,000 units per day. This includes speakers and other audio equipment (including amplifiers) for the Indian market.

RMC Technologies will design the equipment based on Audible’s design while the China factory will produce these at competitive costs. Director, Bhaskar Reddy said the products would be world-class and affordable. Apart from its facilities in Germany, RMC has three units in China and one each in Denmark and the UK. Audible Dynamics was formed as a technical collaboration company between RMC Technologies and Berjiz Electronics promoted by Reddy.

Berjiz initially designed audio products and outsourced manufacturing from RMC Technologies’ plants in Germany and China. These were sold in India under the brand Calypso and Blue. As the German major could not enter India and make the most of the buoyant market, the agreement with Berjiz was cancelled. The partners consequently signed a five-year contract under which a new company, Audible Dynamics India, was floated.

After five years, RMC will have the right to enter this market on its own or pick up a stake in the joint venture. Reddy said Audible Dynamics would continue to make products under the Calypso and Blue brands. It plans to launch 19 varieties of speakers of which Calypso will account for 12 and Blue will take up the rest. The company will also introduce five varieties of amplifiers in the range of two and five channels.

On the anvil are CD, DVD, MP3 players, drop down monitors and other specialty audio enhancement products. The company is in talks with SRS Labs of Japan to incorporate its CS Auto and SRS Wow, which are digital audio processors. Distributors have been appointed in Delhi and the NCR region, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Mumbai and Maharastra while more will be roped in for Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Audible has also tied up with carzoo.com to sponsor audio products.

T MURRALI