Schneider Electric enters retail segment

Schneider Electric India has announced a retail rollout for its switches, sockets and distribution systems for the home and SMB (small and medium business) markets. The retail initiative kicks off with the launch of the ‘ZENcelo' and ‘Vivace' range of switches and the ‘NeoBreak' distribution systems in a phased manner that starts with Maharashtra, followed by Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu over the next few months, a company statement said.

The national rollout aims to appoint 4,000 retail outlets and will be complete by 2012. All the products across categories will be available under the Schneider Electric brand, the statement said.

The market size of switches and distribution boards in India, growing at approximately 16 per cent on an annual basis, according to industry estimates, is currently pegged at Rs 2,400 crore.

Of this, the home market size is considered to be Rs 1, 400 crore while the enterprise market is pegged at approximately Rs 1, 000 crore.