CEO Insights India

Digital devices have changed the lifestyle of millions of individuals and now have the potential to augment nearly every aspect of people’s personal and professional lives. These innovations are leading the masses to newer levels of connectivity, productivity, and discovery. Hence, in this technology-driven world, people cannot afford their devices to drain out during an important conversation or a business meeting, and therefore human-centric & efficient power connectors have become the need of the hour. Belkin International is one such organization that is making people’s life easier by providing an extensive range of products delivering power, protection, connectivity, audio, and smart home solutions. A dynamic business leader, Kartik Bakshi, Country Head, Belkin India is actively taking forward this mission of the organization by focusing on creating products that are beneficial especially to the Indian customers thereby adding value to their lifestyle. He is leveraging his 16+ years of exceptional knowledge and business development skills to contribute to the innovation and creation of new products that have propelled Belkin to be a global leader in the segment of cable & connectivity. As the country head of Belkin India, Kartik is aspiring to empower every Indian with great Belkin products. Let’s hear it from.

Define Belkin India as a brand in the consumer electronics market.
Belkin is a people's company with a common goal to create products that help people improve their daily lives. We have an innate obsession with details which helps us differentiate our products from average accessories to enhanced accessories. We believe in empowering people with high-quality products that make their day more fulfilling, help them to bring the best out of their devices, and live a more stress free life.

We are one of the prominent leaders in the accessory market and believe in being positioned as a premium brand globally.

What makes you a leading provider of cables and connectivity, and a third-party maker of wireless charging accessories?
Our products exist at the intersection of people and technology. Our processes are very thorough, right from procurement design to the final product thereby providing the customer with the best product solution possible. We are now a part of the Foxconn family with an inhouse design team, a lab, and a testing team that focuses on designing MagSafe wireless chargers and regular wireless chargers keeping efficiency at the top. What makes us different is our belief in diversity, and a sustainable product life cycle that is beneficial to the people and environment.

How do you ensure the quality and warranty of your products? What is the after sales support you offer to customers?
The after sales support is a very important part of the success of Belkin in India. We have a Monday to Friday hotline service where we solve the queries of our customers. Our warranty program is one of the best in the world offering a minimum two-year warranty on most of our products and a connected equipment warranty on our power products. Apart from that, we have a very robust replacement model but compared to the industry average, our return & replacement averages are very low which speaks volumes about our brand and the products that we make.

Tell us about the technological frame work of your products, especially about Gallium Nitride chargers.
A GaN charger is a charger that uses gallium nitride instead of the more common silicon in its construction. This makes it smaller, more energy efficient, and faster at

charging than a traditional charger. This environmentally conscious, time saving, and the power-saving product has gained abundant popularity in India. GaN has become a very important facet of our business and I believe India can be a massive market for Belkin globally, especially in this segment. In India, we are already.

witnessing power chargers with 65 watts to even 140 Watts with multiple charging outlets, hence this is one of the latest technologies that we have been working on and is now available in the market globally. We are excited about these technologies that are moving from an early adopter stage to providing everyday life solutions.

What is your appeal to your targeted customers? Also, what lies for the future of Belkin India?
We want the maximum number of people in the world to use Belkin mainly because of the premium quality that it provides in its products. Having Foxconn on board we hope our prices to get more affordable within India so that we do not differentiate from any customer who is looking for a fantastic experience. With the increase in sales every year, our products are reaching out to a wider audience in India and we hope to see its impact on our growth.

I believe the future of Belkin India is extremely bright as day-to-day life’s dependence on smart devices is increasing. People now are looking out for connectors that operate efficiently and this can only be possible with the usage of high quality products that are designed keeping the customers’ best interest in mind. Moreover, my individual goal as an Indian is to bring the manufacturing of Belkin, especially of its higher-end products to India so that they are more reachable to a wider local audience.

Kartik Bakshi, Country Head, Belkin India
Having a Bachelor’s in Science, Corporate Finance, and Computer Science from Central Michigan University and over 16 years of professional experience in multiple organizations, Kartik is currently leading sales and operations for Belkin International in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh.