“With 1.3 billion people, India is a number one market from business potential. I have been really bullish about India,”said Bracken Darrell, President & CEO, Logitech, a $2-billion Swiss company.

Mobile speakers that are not even branded as Logitech but Ultimate Ears grew at about 80 per cent this year. Growth of video collaboration is in the thirties. The mice and keyboard business are also growing, he told Business Line without giving specific numbers.

Darrell said nearly 95 per cent of cloud-based works are being done at the Chennai innovation centre. “We have been developing software here since 2008-09 and it is by far the biggest software innovation centre that we have,” he said.

For instance, the company integrated Amazon Alexa with its Harmony remote control in Chennai. The company does designs with people who are doing embedded software in products. The Centre has around 150 employees, and will grow, he said. Logitech is a household brand in India with its mouse and keyboards used by millions of people. However, as the PC market slowed down globally, it expanded its expertise beyond the two by bringing people together through music, gaming, video and computing.

“Five years ago, we had nearly 350 products but systematically reduced to 185 and brought it back to 225. We have fewer products but they are bigger.

Mouse and keyboards

When asked whether mouse and keyboards will die with growth in mobile phones, Darrell said while sale of mouse has been stable, the keyboard business has grown for six years in a row. The mouse and keyboard are not dead. One may not replace these often but they are still there and Logitech will continue to innovate in this space.

For example, Logitech’s mouse can be used in two PCs and the keyboard can connect with phone/tablet/PC. With a click of a button one can type on two devices, whichever, one one wants to. Both these have been built off consumer insights, he said.

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