APJ Inc. losing market share

APJ Inc. entered the PJ market in hel(L) a year ago. The PJ market then, was saturating with potentially strong and established players like Anand Vaidya’s ‘God & Co.’, Niranjan Pai’s ‘PaiN & Co.’, Nikesh Rathi & Co. and Rohit Marathe & Co. The target for APJ Inc. was a challenging one. Competing against senior and established players, APJ Inc. had to create a brand image for itself.

The strategy followed by APJ Inc. was – delivering high quality PJs, by far the best hel(L) had ever seen, publicity and distribution through a variety of channels viz. Orkut, Batchmails, GTalk status messages, Yahoo groups, word of mouth publicity at gatherings etc., wider reach to the PGP22 and PGP23 customer base through Orkut and GTalk friend lists. In a few months of entering the PJ market, APJ Inc. was a dominant player and had not only grabbed a major market share, but virtually created a monopoly for its products in hel(L).

However, after the change in leadership, APJ Inc.’s focus on its primary product has been continuously declining resulting in lower outputs and shrinking market shares. APJ Inc. still holds the brand value for PJs, thanks to the ‘good old APJ’, but its dominance in hel(L) has reduced significantly. Under the new CEO, APJ Inc. is not concentrating enough on the production and publicity of its product. With a lot of new players entering the market from PGP24, it will be interesting to see if the new CEO succeeds in regaining the market share and dominance of his predecessor.

The Counterpoint..

The second board meeting convened at Samanjasya on Saturday night, started with a recap of the issue of excessive usage of IT and Mass communication infrastructure under the former CEO. But with some more support for the former CEO around, things were expected to be different.

A counterpoint raised by the supporters of the former CEO, to this issue was the underutilization of valuable resources like ‘pgp23d’, ‘pgp23’, ‘IIML 09 orkut comm’, ‘IIML 09 sec D orkut comm’ etc. to the extent that these resources are going through a period of severe recession with no activity whatsoever. Reports suggest that Orkut is likely to declare ‘IIML 09 sec D orkut comm’ (one of the most imp channels of communication used by APJ Inc. under its former CEO) as a Non performing asset.

Another important aspect of the meeting was Partha of Khud ki Maro & Co. face to face with arch rival Doc & Co. Besides the recent takeover fued, the two have also been competing in international mergers and acquisition. Following Partha's recent merger with 'Firang Ladki & Co.' through a special purpose vehicle called 'Index Team Associates' Doc & Co. effectively used their strategic business negotiation skills to acquire 'Christmas Carols & Co.' - another international acquisition.

As the plot unfolds, it will be interesting to see how the two competitors negotiate each other to come up with a feasible plan for APJ Inc.

Enter Partha...

One of the members of the Board of Directors of APJ Inc., who was unavailable for the first board meeting, was Partha.

Partha, MD of the Partnership firm ‘Khud ki Maro & Co.’ comprising 3 partners– Partha, Pratim and Basumatary - was back from an unsuccessful attempt of an acquisition. Partha’s Khud ki Maro and Co. was trying hard to acquire ‘Good looking Facchi & Co.’, but Doc & Co. played the White Knight thereby preventing the acquisition. With Doc & Co. being the Strategy Consultant to APJ Inc. and currently a part of the decision making process, the second board meeting promises some interesting twists.

Partha is believed to be an ardent supporter of the ‘good old APJ’ and his entry just before the Second Board Meeting is crucial. He is likely to shift the balance in favour of the former CEO.

First Board Meeting of APJ Inc.

The first meeting of the Board of Directors for discussing the issue of leadership of APJ Inc. was convened at the CC last night in presence of an external Strategy Consultant from Doc & Co. and a Financial Consultant from Maggu & Co.

One of the main concerns identified by the Board of Directors of APJ Inc. is the excessive use of IT and Mass communication infrastructure of hel(L) under the regime of the “good old APJ”. The new CEO, the “new and improved APJ” has successfully implemented the Anti-Spam Policies of APJ Inc. providing the much required relief to Team Synapse, the IT partner of hel(L).On these grounds, the new CEO of APJ Inc. is likely to receive strong support from Chelu, CEO, Melkor Inc.

However, according to official information from the Board Spokesperson, Mr Nitol, no decision has yet been taken. The discussion has been adjourned till the next board meeting, to happen tonight at Samanjasya.

Drop in share prices of APJ Inc.

On the other hand, news are also coming in of market reaction to the ongoing leadership problems in APJ Inc. The APJ Inc. shares trading at 69 kgs during the CEOs association with Deutsche Bank have dropped to 64 kgs within a few weeks of starting the joint venture called “Term 4” between APJ Inc. and Hel(L). Reports suggest that MessComm is single handedly responsible for the steep drop in share prices.

Leadership Issue at APJ Inc.

June 2008 saw a change in the leadership of APJ Inc. The strong presence and charisma of the former CEO, the “good old APJ” felt across hel(L) was missing in the “new and improved APJ”. Hel(L), now worried about the future of APJ Inc. strongly protested that the former CEO be reinstated. Facing tremendous pressure from share holders, the board of directors of APJ Inc. comprising Chelu, Partha, Khali and Nitol are now considering the decision of bringing back the “good old APJ”.