KDM, founded in Mumbai in 2011, is a provider of a wide range of mobile accessories. KDM is one of the staunch supporters of Make in India and vocal for local programs and the brand is currently manufacturing their products in their manufacturing plant in Gujarat. In an interaction with Mobility Magazine, Mr.N D Mali Director of KDM, shares their company’s philosophy, mission and business & manufacturing strategy.
N D Mali shares, I have had a special love for mobile devices and mobile music gadgets since my childhood. In 2005, I thought I should start my own brand. Then in 2008 I visited the internal market and met some manufacturers & suppliers there and discussed my desire to start my own brand. They explained how things work and encouraged me to start my own brand. I did further research on my plan from 2008-2011 and finally in 2011 launched the KDM brand based out of Mumbai. In 2011, the first products under our KDM brand were earphones charges and cables then we added other products like adapter, speaker TW, smartwatch to add our product line over time. Today, we have over 300 products in our lineup. Today, we have presence all over India through our channel network.“
When asked about what KDM stands for and what inspired them to choose this brand name,
N D Mali briefs, “KDM is a type of standard gold which was widely used in the yesteryears, so we named it KDM to signify that our products are of high value-for-money like KDM gold.”
Also Read:
Speaking about their channel partners, their channel network and the opportunities for mobile accessories in the Indian market, N D Mali comments, “Mobile Accessories market is very big and it offers lots of opportunities, though there is increasing completion in this segment. Today, we have two national channel partners–one for north and one for south India. We have over 500 micro-distributors spread all over India. There is a very good opportunity in the TWS segment. Coming to Smartwatches, in my opinion there is a market but not that big. The smartwatches are more like fancy gadgets or gift items than utility products. So providers should focus on the corporate and other gifting segments to promote their smartwatches. Smartwatches will be here only for a short time; in the long-run they are not great items from the business point of view.”
Revealing about how they want to position KDM in the TWS market,.N D Mali shares, “We will have two levels of TWS products—one with high quality aimed at premium customers and the other with medium quality aimed at mass market. Both will be promoted and sold under the KDM brand.”
With tensions mounting between India and China, the Make in India and vocal for local campaigns have gained fresh momentum. Government wants India to become self-reliant manufacturer without being dependent on imports from China. Speaking in this context, N D Mali says, “Make in India campaign was launched in 2014 by our Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi, and in the same year we started our manufacturing plant in Gujarat making mobile chargers. We later started manufacturing powerbanks and cables. We also procure some of our products from other manufacturers from Delhi and Noida. As far as possible we want to use only India-made components and raw materials. We strongly support the campaigns Make in India, atmanirbhar and vocal for local. In future, we will work more actively on our Make in India plans. We even want to export to other countries. Our slogan will Make in India and Sell to the World. We are planning to launch several new products in the coming months the details which I cannot share at this point of time.”
