Retail Market

India Update

INDIA -- you may never have been there, but there's a pretty

good chance the sound of your voice has, if you've made any

tech support calls lately. The country's emergence as a provider

of such services, however, is only one aspect of a much broader

transformation underway.With rapid economic growth and a

huge expansion in education that is fulfilling the culture's deeply

ingrained respect and thirst for knowledge, India appears to be

on course for occupying a key position in the global economy.

This is good news for Wiley. Along with China,

India is a pivotal part of our Asian strategy, and

the market there is healthier than it has ever

been; our year-to-date revenue is up 12 percent

against plan, 24 percent against prior year. "I

have never seen a market as buoyant as this,"

says Peter Booth Wiley, Chairman, recently

back from a 10-day trip timed to coincide with

the Delhi Book Fair, held every February. "It's

exciting to see such enormous vitality."

Wiley's presence in India actually dates

back to 1965, when then-President and CEO

W. Bradford Wiley, Peter's father, formed

Wiley Eastern in New Delhi. An extension

of our international publishing program, its

primary mission was the production of locally

printed paperback editions of American textbooks,

priced to market. In the face of India's

chronic political and economic volatility, the

venture has prevailed through some challenging

times. Although Wiley Eastern ceased to

At the Delhi Book Fair: Steve Miron, Vice President, Asia;

Vikas Gupta; Peter Wiley; Mark Allin; A.K. Bharti

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function under that name in 1994, signifying

a refocusing of our efforts in the country,

continuity has been assured in our venture

there (now known as Wiley India) by the involvement

of General Manager A.K. Bharti,

a highly respected figure within the Indian

publishing industry, who has been with us

since 1976. We are currently based in five

locations in India, with the main office in Delhi.

Wiley India Today

Our established textbook operation is now just

one part of Wiley India's business, which is

also driven by STM books and major reference

works in the library market, a growing demand

for journals (both print and online), and by

select Professional/Trade titles. The Hungry

Minds acquisition of September 2001 brought

us a joint venture now known as Wiley Dreamtech,

which combines the reprinting of Wiley

technology titles with an indigenous publishing

program under the direction of Vikas Gupta,

who is the author of more than a dozen computer

books. Peter describes the combination

of Wiley India and Wiley Dreamtech as "a marriage

made in heaven. Bharti is an expert in

India's hugely complex distribution system and

represents Wiley's long tradition in the country,

while Vikas represents new entrepreneurial

drive."

The juxtaposition of the traditional and the

new seems ubiquitous in India. "There are

400 publishers' offices in Delhi," says Peter --

"and 15,000 cows wandering the streets." The

byzantine distribution system, the negotiation

of which is such an important part of Bharti's

work, is most certainly an example of the traditional.

"The distribution of books in India

passes through several layers of booksellers,"

says Bharti: "first the wholesaler/importers, then

the sub-wholesalers in each region, and then

the retailers. From there a book reaches the

end customer, whether individual, library, or

academic institution. While one has to make

the stock available at the wholesaler level, it

is also important to create the demand at the

customer level to ensure that the stock moves

down through the various layers. If there is not

sufficient demand, the wholesalers are reluctant

to place the orders to keep titles in stock."

Growth and Opportunity

"The