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Tablets Galore
With end cutomers giving a lot of attention to tablets domestic players are quite bullish on unlocking India's potential in the tablet segment
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t is Tablets Galore! As today there are a lot of players which are focusing their effort towards launching tablets in India. This at a time when the average price points of tablets are becoming better than the handsets and smartphones, there is huge potential for tablet in India. This is set to help players improve the bottom lines as well as the top lines. Players also realize that creating appropriate content for these tablets must also be a strategic focus. Indigenous players have also started positioning themselves as device and content providers. With new age convergence setting the right mood for the end customer, as a category, tablets are fast gaining momentum and control of the entertainment device market.
the bottom lines as well as the top lines. Players also realise that creating appropriate content for these tablets must also be a strategic focus. According to CyberMedia Research, about 475,000 units of media tablets were sold in India in calendar year 2011. In the January-March period of 2012, India saw the sales of nearly 3,50,000 units of media tablets. The country’s market has become particularly competitive since 4Q of 2010 when Samsung launched the first tablet model in India. RIM’s Playbook,
The Indian Tablet Market According to Cyber Media Research, the country saw sales of about 475,000 units of media tablets in the last calendar year. And the tablet sales will rise exponentially in India in 2012 and will beat estimates of all analysts with millions joining the internet age and tablet sales will be a primary driver in this surge. “The average price points of tablets are better than the handsets and smartphones. It helps players improve 10 | August 2012
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“The average price points of tablets are better than the handsets and smartphones. It helps players improve the bottom lines as well as the top lines. Players also realise that creating appropriate content for these tablets must also be a strategic focus. Nafis Kazim, COO, Shyam Networks
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Apple’s iPad2, M Galaxy Tab 7 are s brands available in range,” says, Nafis Speaking abo in India, Rajesh Micromax Informa quickly metamorp 'luxury' product to range of custom executives, adverti students, to name important year in is plethora of optio points. Today, tab for consuming con checking emails b Nowadays tablets and corporate con use tablets for m enterprise consum the device for rem generally wish to o offer a handy sub big in size. When then people would as it’s easier to us affordable price s tablets to laptops, According to G Infosystems Ltd, fast emerging as the government is affordable comput traditional comput a better and more colleges. Compute segment and that incline towards ta be an important f a significant role market. Also ther of the tablet in ent as insurance and even in cinema h order their food o positive impact on and hence better tablet will also be internet by greate explains. Resonating on Popli, Country M Pvt says that toda after so many year finally being accep gadget one would happening primari MOBILITY
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Apple’s iPad2, Motorola’s Xoom and Samsung’s “This new concept in the Galaxy Tab 7 are some of the notable MNC tablet brands available in the India market in the high-end consumer electronics range,” says, Nafis Kazim, COO, Shyam Networks. field and considering the Speaking about the tablet market scenario in India, Rajesh Agarwal, Managing Director, number of young techMicromax Informatics says that tablet has very savvy population in India, quickly metamorphosed from being a 'premium' or 'luxury' product to one that has appeal to a wide tablet market is bound to range of customer segments such as business grow many folds in the executives, advertising and media professionals and students, to name a few . 2012 is going to be an coming years.” important year in the Indian tablet market as there Alex Huang, is plethora of options available across different price Managing Director, points. Today, tablets are primarily being adopted System Business Group, for consuming content, with accessing internet and checking emails being the predominant activities. Asus India Nowadays tablets are adopted by both retails and corporate consumers. While retail consumers tablets price points which are quite attractive and is catching the use tablets for multimedia consumption, gaming enterprise consumers leverage the portability and mobility of eyeballs of the end consumer in all parts of the social segments. the device for remote access and client presentations, students This is prompting different segments to go for tablets and try generally wish to own it to fulfill their educational needs. Tablets this new hardware. In my opinion, Tablet can neither replace offer a handy substitute for laptops. Laptops are heavy and a mobile nor a laptop. However it is creating its own segment big in size. When a smaller device can perform all that work, and utility. Mobility with affordability is the key success factor then people would definitely go for a more simplified device of a tablet. This fits into everyone's requirement. Whether it is as it’s easier to use as well. Moreover, tablets are available at a student wanting to learn or play something or a front sales affordable price so people are getting encouraged to prefer executive wanting to send his or her sales report or purchase order or anyone who would want to have entertainment by tablets to laptops,” he explains. According to Gautam Advani, EVP & Head, Mobility, HCL watching movies or listening to the songs, tablet is coming Infosystems Ltd, tablets as a mobile device, has grown and forward as a preferred device...and most importantly all this is fast emerging as a robust market category in India. In India, coming at an affordable price point,” he explains. As explained by Pradeep Jain, Managing Director, Karbonn the government is being vocal about the growth of ICT and affordable computing. “Within a few years of introduction of Mobiles. Over the past three financial years since its inception, traditional computers in education, tablet PCs have proved to be Karbonn Mobiles’ market share has increased from an impressive a better and more effective medium for learning in schools and 3% in FY 09-10 to 6% in FY 11-12 which is expected to reach colleges. Computer on the move factor will drive the consumer 10% by the financial year of 2012-13. Also the sales volume segment and that will make the market to incline towards tablet PC. This is going to “At this point the tablets be an important form factor and will play a significant role to drive the entire PC market has fierce competimarket. Also there will be increasing use tion with many brands jumpof the tablet in enterprises in verticals such as insurance and banking. For example ing in for a quick buck. Time even in cinema halls where patrons can order their food on tablets - which has a will slowly separate those positive impact on the service staff’s TAT brands who are actually in and hence better customer service. The tablet will also be used for accessing the the market for the long run internet by greater number of people,” he explains. and are seriously looking at Resonating on a similar note, Sandeep high customer delight.” Popli, Country Manager, Go Tech Digital Pvt says that today we can surely say that Rajeev Karwal, after so many years, as a product, tablet is Founder & CEO finally being accepted as one of the useful Milagrow Business & gadget one would love to have. “This is Knowlege Solutions happening primarily because of the budget MOBILITY
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“Within a few years of introduction of traditional computers in education, tablet PCs have proved to be a better and more effective medium for learning in schools and colleges. ” Rajesh Agarwal Managing Director, Micromax Informatics
has increased from 3 million units in FY 09-10 to 10 million units which are expected to reach around 20 million units in the financial year of 2012-13. For Karbonn Mobiles, the journey never ends and this stupendous start is just the beginning of a flight which will see this young Indian brand reach up the zenith of world mobile business in times to come,” he explains. According to Kapil Wadhwa, MD, Champion Computers, the Indian tablet market shipped 0.39 million units in the year 2011-12. “Even though, it is a fraction of the worldwide shipments of 65 million units, the Indian tablet market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 71% with shipments growing to 9.66 mn units by 2017 which is quite impressive (Bloomberg). With improved processor speed, performance and innovative content, we see increased adoption of tablets as the primary computing device for consumers. Speaking about the Indian market, Satyak Kapoor, VP, Fujezone says that the Indian tablet market is to a great extent untapped and on the growing curve. “The idea of owning a tablet on the go is the biggest demand driver coupled with bigger screens and multi purpose apps which has fueled the market growth. Tablets are extremely portable and easy to carry. One can do everything on tablets that can be done on laptops. So if you are looking to buy a smart gadget which can full fill your multimedia needs, official needs (mailing), social media integration, photography then why does one have to buy
“Accordingly we will be focusing both these channel segment apart from the corporate and institutional requirements.” Sandeep Parasrampuria MD, iBall
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a laptop? Speaking about the Indian tablet market scenario, Alex Huang, Managing Director, System Business Group, Asus India says that with a series of high-decibel launches in the last one year, tablet PC market in India is zooming beyond expectation. “This new concept in the consumer electronics field and considering the number of young tech-savvy population in India, tablet market is bound to grow many folds in the coming years. Although much is left to be seen as to how the overall tablet segment unfolds in India, various vendors are offering their best with their unique prepositions to serve the target group they cater to. The demand for tablets has poised phenomenally as users start to experience the limitless potential of Tablets. Users have started opting for innovative options,” he adds on. According to Rajeev Karwal, Founder & CEO Milagrow Business & Knowledge Solutions, the Indian tablets market is one of the fastest growing categories across all industries. By 2015 the tablets market in India will be more than 15 million units. Within a few years the tablets market will be even bigger than the PC market. “At this point the tablets market has fierce competition with many brands jumping in for a quick buck. Time will slowly separate those brands who are actually in the market for the long run and are seriously looking at high customer delight,” he adds on. As being put by Sandeep Parasrampuria, MD, iBall Tablet PCs are a very exciting category and expected to grow very fast across the globe including India. The Indian market is already seeing interest by different segments to consider Tablet PCs as a very key product in the digital needs. “Portability, ease of use with touch screen appear to be the key reasons for customer consideration. And of course the availability at different affordability pricing also makes it much more considered products. And the biggest thing is you can do almost anything you need….work, gaming, entertainment and over 6 lakh apps ion Android gives complete flexibility for every interest. iBall is offering a range of products and has an very impressive roadmap for the coming three months. We already have 7” with and without 3G built-in. They key is that iBall tablets are considered to be best performance in its segment. We also will have soon 9.7”,” he explained. The Tablet Advantage The key attribute of small tablets that will drive them into mainstream use is low cost. “It’s estimated that I think that over the next two years, the "sweet spot" range for 7-inch tablets is between $100 and $200. Sure, we've seen lots of phones at these prices and below. But phones require wireless service, which brings the total cost of ownership into the many hundreds or thousands of dollars for the life of the device. With small tablets, consumers will pay one very low price -- and they're done spending. Wi-Fi is becoming far more ubiquitous now because people are using personal hotspots -- features that let several Wi-Fi connections piggyback onto a mobile broadband connection. Buying these cheap tablets will be a nearly consequence-free decision. They'll be an impulse buy. People will buy several. People will buy them for their children. Children will buy them for themselves. But the real driver isn't just that low cost means more people can afford them. Low
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1. Wonder: The power within prices at `89 2. Ultimate: Ul friendly attitu Both tablets
cost means low m people incentives the time without a low-risk gadget likely to be stole lost or broken. T increases the loca using a tablet. It' also fits in a pock networks explains As explained Datawind, tablets the lifecycle of co They are more po a much richer an “The price point f standard laptops universe of applica currently two mod – Ubislate 7+ an functionality and c Gautam Advan eyeballs due to its role to drive the PC offers easy on seamless connect device. “HCL Infosyste the Tablet market: • HCL Me • HCL Me • HCL Me • HCL My • HCL My HCL has been market for over consumer behavio to designed produ consumer. Our ta We have been ach business have re growth in tour 2 market share in th to launch tablets segment. We are into the market. W the country and t MOBILITY
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et scenario, Alex Group, Asus India hes in the last one yond expectation. tronics field and population in India, the coming years. the overall tablet are offering their the target group sed phenomenally otential of Tablets. ons,” he adds on. & CEO Milagrow tablets market is s all industries. By re than 15 million will be even bigger ablets market has ng in for a quick s who are actually sly looking at high
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Winknet is looking at launching two tablets in the initial phase. Those are Wonder (7 inch) & Ultimate (9.7 inch).
1. Wonder: The target group of Wonder are primarily students, young professional, techno geeks with limited spending power within an age group of 16 – 24. The tablets would promise of giving enriched broadband experience and is prices at `8995. This is complete value for money with best in class H/W, features and apps. 2. Ultimate: Ultimate is targeted at the age of 25-24 mid level professional with highe level of awareness and techno friendly attitude. Priced at MRP:14,995/-, this product would have lots of office suite apps relevant for the professionals. Both tablets are high on gaming, Bollywood & thousands of downloadable apps.
“Within a few years of cost means low material value, which will give people incentives to use tablets everywhere, all introduction of traditional the time without thinking about them. They're computers in education, a low-risk gadget to carry around. They're less likely to be stolen. They're easily replaced if tablet PCs have proved lost or broken. The smaller form factor also to be a better and more increases the locations and circumstances for using a tablet. It's both less conspicuous and effective medium for also fits in a pocket,” Nafis Kazim from Shyam learning in schools and networks explains. As explained by Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, colleges.“ Datawind, tablets are the next logical step in Gautam Advani, the lifecycle of consumer computing products. EVP & Head, Mobiltiy, They are more portable than laptops and offer HCL Infosystems Ltd a much richer and intuitive user experience. “The price point for most tablets is also below well across all regions. HCL Infosystems has a widespread standard laptops and offer users the additional value of a reach in currently more than 4000+ cities in India. We have universe of applications developed for mobile devices. We have nearly 2000 retail outlets today,” he informs. currently two models available under the brand name Ubislate As being put by Kapil Wadhwa from Champion Computers, – Ubislate 7+ and Ubislate 7C. Both tablets have SIM card the tablet is a very innovative device. “It packs the convenience functionality and can also be used as a phone,” he added. of both a laptop and smart phone in terms of its mobility Gautam Advani from HCL says that the Tablet has drawn and calling support. But it scores over other devices due to eyeballs due to its form factor and will continue to play a crucial its larger screen resulting in better rich media experience ( role to drive the entire PC market. The small compact Tablet entertainment and e-books) and compact size (much smaller PC offers easy on-the-go computing, at the same time offers that laptops). With reasonably good processing power, seamless connectivity at par with any computing device. “The idea of owning a “HCL Infosystems offers the following products in the Tablet market: tablet on the go is the • HCL Me X1 biggest demand driver • HCL Me U1 • HCL Me Y2 coupled with bigger • HCL My EduTab -K12 Version screens and multi purpose • HCL My EduTab- Higher Education(HE) HCL has been a household name of the Indian apps which has fueled the market for over 30 years, and have studied the market growth. Tablets are consumer behavior very closely which has enabled us to designed products to suit the need of the Indian extremely portable and consumer. Our tablets also follow the same lineage. easy to carry. One can do We have been achieving robust growth and the tablet everything on tablets that business have registered more than 2000% YoY growth in tour 2011-12 FY. We enjoy 15 per cent can be done on laptops.“ market share in the overall tablet market and planning Satyak Kapoor, to launch tablets across all price points in the value VP segment. We are confident of making further inroads into the market. We have a huge retail presence across Fujezone the country and the HCL tablets have been accepted August 2012 | 13 MOBILITY www.mobilityindia.com Mobility sep2012 new.indd 13
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“Indian tablet industry is among the fastest growing markets” How do you look at the Indian market for Tablets? The Indian Tablet Market has been evolving for the past 2 years. The Indian tablet industry is among the fastest growing markets around the world, witnessing an increasing growth in demand and the emergence of various players in the industry. While the market is dominated by international brands, the emergence of various low cost indigenous brands has made tablets accessible to the price conscious Indian consumer. The segment's growth is also driven by factors such as increased consumer awareness, launch of faster and price effective data technologies and the emergence of various models in different price bands. The positive growth outlook of the industry is supported by the efforts undertaken by various brands to position tablets as a first computer for Indian consumers. In India, total tablet shipments in 2011 are estimated to be 0.39 million units, which is a very small fraction of the nearly 65 million shipped globally. However, the Indian tablet market is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 71% and shipments are expected to growth to 9.66 million units in 2017.
of laptops and smartphones, bringing the best of both worlds on one device. We are seeing a trend where the Tablets are almost coming to replace laptops. Some of the key attributes:Portability: Tablets by design are comparatively lightweight and relatively easy to carry around. Many of them may still be too heavy to hold in one hand, but they're great in your lap or on a surface. Productivity: Tablet in the workplace can be quite helpful for handling basic tasks, like checking e-mail or other applications. Gaming/Entertainment/E-reader: Tablets are great for entertainment & Gaming. Since a tablet is basically just a large screen, it's a stellar device for watching movies and TV shows. Touch-based controls on a tablet forces
What is so special about this new category of devices called tablets? Why should an end customer go for tablet and not a regular laptop? Tablets have caught the attention of masses across the globe, as it is powered with functionalities that appeals to users across age, demographic, profession etc.Itwouldbeappropriate to say that tablets are a beautiful amalgamation 14 | August 2012
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developers to get creative, leading to truly unusual gaming. Adaptability: Installing apps on a tablet is a much easier and simpler process. Tablets also are a good tool for road warriors who need the functionality that their phone lacks but who don't want the size and weight of a laptop or netbook to slow them down. Battery Life: Tablets have a far superior battery life compared to most of the laptops available in the market
BlackBerry PlayB give users what t providing advanc out-of-the-box en breakthrough deve IT departments an
What are your product offerings for the tablet market in India? In the tablet category we have the BlackBerry PlayBook available in India in the following variants o The 16GB variant is available for `13,490 o The 32 GB variant is available for `15,990/o The 64 GB variant is available for `19,990/BlackBerry PlayBook, is a multitasking powerhouse that gives uncompromised experience to the users for both work and play. Perfect for both professional usage and for an individual, the professional- grade
Please share deta market strategy India? While Tablet s adoption stage it vibrant segment att offering from vario launched the BlackB and further annou OS upgrade few m important market f and in order to reac at large our strateg national distributio that our products nation. As a part of our devised interested o market to make the the masses. During offer wherein any c BlackBerry PlayBo Curve 8520 for fre was to get more pe Furthermore, towa the BlackBerry Pla discounted rate as offer, which saw a leading to the devic across the country.
At a time when Indian market is flooded with tablet players, a seasoned global player like BlackBerry surely brings unique value for the end customers. Mobility speaks with Sunil Lalvani, Director, Enterprise Sales, Research In Motion, India about the company’s take on India’s tablet boom.
What are some o forces that are se sales for the coun The tablet PC that beautifully functions of a lap on an entirely new the third screen. Tablet PCs giv to users in term leisure. One can information while equal output from related functions.
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BlackBerry PlayBook is designed to give users what they want, while also providing advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a breakthrough development platform for IT departments and developers.
ook, is a multise that gives perience to the and play. Perfect al usage and for rofessional- grade
Please share details about your go to market strategy for your tablets in India? While Tablet segment is in its early adoption stage it has been the most vibrant segment attracting a lot of product offering from various manufacturers. We launched the BlackBerry PlayBook in 2011 and further announced the PlayBook 2.0 OS upgrade few months ago. India is an important market for Research In Motion and in order to reach out to the consumers at large our strategy has been to focus on national distribution channels and ensure that our products are available across the nation. As a part of our marketing strategy we devised interested offers focused at the India market to make the PlayBook accessible to the masses. During Diwali, we rolled out an offer wherein any customer who bought a BlackBerry PlayBook got a BlackBerry Curve 8520 for free. The objective of this was to get more people to use the device. Furthermore, towards the end of the year the BlackBerry PlayBook was offered at a discounted rate as a part of our year end offer, which saw an immediate response leading to the device running out of stocks across the country.
Indian ed yers, a al player surely alue for the Mobility nil Lalvani, prise Sales, otion, India pany’s take t boom.
What are some of the biggest driving forces that are set to pushing tablets sales for the country? The tablet PC is a unique category that beautifully amalgamates the functions of a laptop and smartphone on an entirely new device, best known as the third screen. Tablet PCs give a good experience to users in terms of both work and leisure. One can download personal information while at the same time, get equal output from the device for workrelated functions. A lot of preference for
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the device is also driven as a result of this capability that comes with tablet PCs. In a country such as India, the uptake is also widely driven by various factors namely, price, tariffs and availability of relevant apps. While there are consumers who will go for competitive pricing and average technology, there will continue to be a great demand for tablets of global standards with cutting edge technology for the technology savvy category of users. From an Enterprise perspective the security and manageability features of the Tablet are key driving factors given that secure Corporate data cannot be compromised even on employee owned tablets. In a fiercely competitive tablet market, how do you create the differentiation? With immense competition among the tablet players, companies are looking for ways to push their products ahead of their competitors. At Research In Motion, we have consistently focused on providing the best in technology coupled with simplified user experience which is also a differentiator for our tablet offering. With the inherent security functionality that wipes one’s professional information from the device when disconnected from the Bridge, makes BlackBerry PlayBook a must-have for enterprise users. At the same time the user interface, smooth functioning on wi-fi, availability of application and the android player are features that excites consumers choose the BlackBerry PlayBook over the rest. Key differentiators of the BlackBerry Playbook include: 1) The ability to pair any Bluetooth enabled smartphone with the BlackBerry Playbook allows the user to save on monthly recurring data services cost and eliminates the need of a dedicated sim card for the Playbook. 2) The ability to virtually partition and manage Corporate Data on the BlackBerry Playbook gives CIO’s peace of mind to control and manage Corporate data even on personal owned Playbooks. www.mobilityindia.com
This ensures that Corporate data is not compromised even if the Playbook is stolen or lost. 3) The ability to create and manage a separate Enterprise Catalogue section on the BlackBerry Playbook, allows IT administrators and users to seamlessly manage and update applications that are critical from a work perspective and mandated as per the organization policy guidelines. These are key differentiators that make the BB Playbook the preferred choice of Enterprise customers today. What kind of revenues are you expecting from the tablet segment in the coming year? The tablet segment is growing at a rapid pace and we expect see continual growth for BlackBerry Playbook in this segment. As a company policy, we do not break up revenue figures, currently the BlackBerry PlayBook enjoys a 15% market share in India as per the latest Cybermedia Research report and we are sure that the growth curve would be positive in the near future too. Please share some of your tablet product models that you are planning to launch in the Indian market? The Indian market is yet at a nascent stage of tablet consumption; hence currently we don’t have plans of releasing a new tablet in India. However keeping pace with the steadily growing global infrastructure and technology capabilities, we have recently launched the new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with built-in support for cellular networks. The new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook maintains a sleek and ultraportable form while delivering overall faster performance over the original BlackBerry PlayBook, as well as support for blazing fast 4G LTE networks. The 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook allows customers to work more productively and connect to the Internet, as well as access their email, on-line apps, media and content, from more places than ever. August 2012 | 15
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Simmtronics Goes Bullish on Tablet Manufacturing Taking a cue from an increased demand for Tablets, Simmtronics is increasing its Tablet manufacturing capacity in India n today’s scenario, the tablet PC market in India is one of the to Middle East, Europe and other markets. fastest growing markets around the globe. With the introduction "Our continued success of the tablets, as well as the stronger of Tablet in India, the market has witnessed huge growth in terms growth rates of the tablet markets has forced us to increase our of demand, shipments and emergence of various players, national tablet manufacturing capacity to 3 lakhs units per month. This & international, in the industry. The figures and the growth rate will help us to meet the ever growing demand of our products in indicate that the Tablet PC market is still a niche market in India India. In addition to India, we are also exporting these products to and has huge potential in the coming years. countries like Dubai, Europe and South Africa,” informed Indrajit In a strategic move, Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd, a home Sabharwal, Managing Director, Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd. grown Indian IT manufacturing major has Simmtronics has a projection of TABLET increased its Tablet manufacturing capacity orders of 2M Tablets in the year 2012-13. Range to 3 lakhs per month at its manufacturing includes 7” and 10” Resistive and Capacitive Tablets. facilities in India. In order to meet the ever Simmtronics technical expertise is that Simmtronics growing demand of Tablet’s in the country can manufacture the Tablets to the Customers / from the Corporate and the Government Users technical specifications and requirements. sector, the company has increased its tablet Simmtronics technical and R&D capability is the production capacity. highest quality in India. Simmtronics is already Simmtronics has been on the forefront competing with the Big Brands in the global of manufacturing Tablets in India for the market. past one year. In addition, the company Simmtronics is one of the leading manufacturers is looking at further increasing its of Tablets, Motherboards, Desktop PCs, Memory manufacturing capacity to six lakh tablets Module and Netbooks in the country. The company per month by the end of 2012. has manufacturing facilities in India, Singapore Simmtronics has an Order booking and Dubai and has sales offices in UAE, Thailand, of over Rs. 100 crores including Exports. Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, UK, USA Simmtronics is already exporting its Tablets and Singapore.
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increasing shift in consumption of e-books and entertainment on demand and falling prices, the tablet would become first choice for consumers,” he adds on. Talking about the Indian scenario, Pradeep Jain from Karbonn says that for sustaining and consolidating its presence in India, Karbonn Mobiles intends to follow through a threepronged approach wherein it intends to delve in multi genres like product initiation, marketing and R&D activities to forward its brand integration in India. “For the same, Karbonn Mobiles will firstly be concentrating on building its brand integration of the newly launched technologically advanced Smartphone and Tablet range as a part of the ‘Karbonn Smart’ eco-system. Also going forward, Karbonn Mobiles intends to introduce newer product portfolios in the coming months and thus earn an approximate revenue “Over the past three financial years since its inception, Karbonn Mobiles’ market share has increased from an impressive 3% in FY 09-10 to 6% in FY 11-12 which is expected to reach 10% by the financial year of 2012-13.” Pradeep Jain Managing Director, Kanbonn Mobiles 16 | August 2012
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addition of 20% through these innovatively cost-effective technological networked devices. In continuation of its expansion tenet, Karbonn Mobiles also intends to launch new products in the price range of Rs. 5000 – 10,000 to bridge the gap while launching more android based smart phones & tab in the Rs. 5000 bracket in the future. Going forward, Karbonn Mobiles will also intends to integrate its product collaborations with players like Dolby Technologies, SRS Labs, Emoze Service and Digivibe and thus create efficient mobile phone marketing techniques into the market,” he adds on. Sandeep Parasrampuria from iBall says that iBall is widely distributed brand in computer channel and also making good inroads in the mobile phones market. “Accordingly we will be focusing both these channel segment apart from the corporate and institutional requirements. Portability, ease of use and affordability with wide application (Work, internet, gaming, entertainment, music and over 600k apps) makes Tablet PCs a very appealing product for everyone and every need. iBall has the culture of innovating and it comes naturally to our brand. Better performance and offering is already being appreciated,” he adds on. Alex Huang from Asus says that Tablets are powerful and facilitate mobility and natural interaction with computer. “On connectivity side, besides the built-in wireless support, Tablet PCs can also be placed into a docking station at a desk to support a large monitor, network connection, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals. All Tablet PCs will be very light. Combined with wireless network support, Tablet PC gives you
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hat iBall is widely also making good rdingly we will be rom the corporate ease of use and internet, gaming, makes Tablet PCs a ery need. iBall has rally to our brand. eing appreciated,”
lets are powerful on with computer. wireless support, station at a desk ection, keyboard, will be very light. ablet PC gives you MOBILITY
greater mobility and immediate access to the full power of your PC. There is continuous shift in consumer behavior as more and more users are adapting to new technologies, browsing, shopping and interacting with brands on the move. An end customer will use a Tablet as it sort the convenience and portability aspects and they can also be used in place of laptops when attached to the docking station. Over all it is an all new computing experience,” he explains. Rajeev Karwal from Milagrow says that the tablet is being branded as the most disruptive device in the past 15 years in the technology space. “With a tablet, a consumer gets the advantage of using a highly portable device that is light and has a compact form factor. A tablet can be used to consume information and the reading experience is beautiful. For professionals, tablets are great to use in meetings, especially to take notes. For those looking for entertainment, music and movies are enjoyed on HD screens most easily found on tablets. At the end of the day, price is also a big consideration in a market like India, and tablets are a much lower cost option than most laptops,” he is quick to add on. The Indian Proposition “As part of our effort to bring best of broadband products, we are launching tablets - Ultimate (9.7 inch) & Wonder 7 inch”. Consumers are going to enjoy seamless broadband content and its touch experience and looks are really unique and worldclass. While Wonder is more relevant for students, Ultimate would best suited for young professionals who are looking for a substitute to notebooks with lots of office suite apps at the best possible price. Both tablets are high on gaming , Bollywood & thousands of downloadable apps,” Nafis Kazim from Shyam Networks informed. Talking about its positioning in the Indian market, Rajesh Agarwal from Micromax says that fun and education are two important elements of a youth’s life; they always try to balance between what they “have to do” and what they “want to do”. “With the launch of Funbook, we are offering a smart solution to solve this dilemma, and we believe that Funbook will help create a balance between the two.In April, we forayed into the tablet market with our 7” Funbook. After the success of the Funbook, we introduced a larger screen, 10” Funbook Pro for more entertainment and more of education. Seeing the rise in demand from enterprise users, we recently launched our Funbook Alpha for the enterprise users. We will be constantly engaging in bringing up innovative products to our different groups of consumers,” Rajesh adds on. Talking about Champion Computers tablet offering, Kapil said that the company has recently launched its maiden ice cream sandwich (ICS) 4.0 based Wtab 7..2. “The tablet comes with a 7.2, 5 point touch capacitive screen. It features a Cortex A8 upto 1.5 Mhz processor delivering superior performance . The Wtab 7.2 features a 512 MB RAM, flash memory of 4GB expandable upto 32GB,Front camera,3G dongle support through USB port and G sensor for 360 angular rotation. The tablet delivers and impressive battery back up of 4-5 hours on full charge (3100mAh) . Weighing only 320 gms, the Wtab 7.2 is priced at a price of Rs.4899 with 1 year warranty. It also comes with its own brand of dongles ' WConnect' which is 100 MOBILITY
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“This is happening primarily because of the budget tablets price points which are quite attractive and is catching the eyeballs of the end consumer in all parts of the social segments.” Sandeep Popli Country Manager Go Tech Digital Pvt Ltd.
% compatible (unlike dongle compatibility issues with other tablets) with the tablet and runs on the SIM of any network. We would soon be launching the Wtab 7.3 with calling function and another tablet with 3G calling in the next quarter,” Kapil adds on. As explained by Pradeep Jain from Karbonn Mobiles, Social Networking, Location based Services, Mobile Banking and Cloud Computing will be the ‘In’ mobile driven technologies which will be hot in the coming months. The industry foresees that data services would be the point of interest for the ecosphere and more and more consumers would wane away from the traditional bits of internet usage and be more inclined towards mobile internet usage. Also, going forward, the industry would rely heavily on cloud storage options wherein consumers would discard the traditional ways of storage and would look towards cloud storage as the more convenient and more pertinent way of storage. With growing technology, more and more consumers will start using mobile internet as their likened way of social interaction and thus will usher in a new technological revolution, in the coming times,” he explains. Says, Satyak Kapoor from Fujezone, currently we have launched 3 models in the Indian market namely, X210, X88 and MT12 tablets. X210 is an entry level tablet with 3G support while X88 is a 2G calling tablet and MT12 runs on Android 4.0.4 ICS and has a capacitive touch screen,” he adds on. Talking about their India strategy, Sandeep from Gotech said that the company is currently offering Funtab Fit as one of the first product in the capacitive touch screen category. “This product offers all basic features of the tablet but at the same time, it is loaded with a lot of useful applications for all segments of users. One of the most important offering is for student and that is called Fun Perform. This is one of the most
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“Even though, it is a fraction of the worldwide shipments of 65 million units, the Indian tablet market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 71% with shipments growing to 9.66 mn units by 2017 which is quite impressive (Bloomberg). ” Kapil Wadhwa, MD, Champion Computers August 2012 | 17
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useful tools specifically designed for students to study online. GO TECH is currently offering this application free to consumer as part of our introductory offer,” he adds on. Talking about its product range for India, Alex Huang from Asus says that, “We have launched S Series Ultrabooks and F Series Thin & Light Notebooks which are now available in the market. Other than these we have Asus Eee Pad Transformer and Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Asus Zenbook, Eee PC X101 available in India. The demand for tablets has poised phenomenally as users start to experience the limitless potential of Tablets. Our strategy has been to roll out tablets with technology and innovation at the forefront. From the build to the performance, we have focused on overall basis, so as to enable users have a superior computing experience. In order to focus on the high growth areas, we aim at having increased number of branches in India. Our focus has also been shifted to Tier II and Tier III areas. To cater to that, we are working on increasing the regional distributors and manpower to be able to reach each and every partner in each state. We have been working on strengthening our distribution channel and have recently appointed new partners. We are focusing on escalating regional level distributors to help us to ensure that our products reach tier-2 and tier-3 cities apart from the tier-1 cities,” he explains. Rajeev Karwal from Milagrow says that Milagrow's tablets range is one of the most innovative and largest in the country. “Milagrow was the first brand to introduce tablets with complete ports - such as a full USB port for 1024 GB Hard Drive and mouse/keyboard connectivity, mirroring HDMI port for presentations, SD card slot for expandable memory, quadband SIM slot for worldwide Internet connectivity on the go. Just last week, Milagrow became the 1st Indian brand to launch Windows tablets. These highly powerful 10-inch tablets with inbuilt biometric fingerprint scanners, running 1.6 GHz dual core processors with 128GB internal memory are very useful for businesses and professionals that run softwares which are most suitable for Microsoft Windows OS only,” he explains. Talking about the Indian opportunity, Suneet from Datawind, said that there are 900 million mobile phone subscribers but only 18 million broadband connections. We intend to plug this gap..” We have more than 3.5 million pre-orders for our products and we intend to fulfill them using a direct to customer fulfillment model in the coming months. The platform strategy for our products will ensure that we offer premium content in various segments to our customers in all popular Indian languages and scripts, using a business model that ensures that the content is free to use for the end customer. There will be special focus on education keeping in mind the unique needs of Indian students at different levels and in different geographies. Additionally we are focused on ensuring anywhere, anytime internet connectivity by ensuring a great internet browsing experience on India’s GPRS networks,” he explains.
KeyPoint Presents Adaptxt Beta 1.0 for Android Tablets
K
eyPoint Technologies an innovative user-interface products organization has launched Adaptxt beta version 1.0 for Android Tablets, powered by Predictive Text2.0 that is designed to learn and adapt to the users writing style and allows the user to write more with minimal keystrokes. It provides highly accurate and relevant text prediction, error-correction & auto-correction inputs by combining the best of artificial intelligence and computing technology. Adaptxt’s, ‘Learn from Socials’ based personalization feature provides users an excellent typing experience. It learns user’s unique writing style from social profiles like Facebook, Twitter as well as their SMS messages and contacts. This beta version offers its users a quick and efficient new feature ATR - Automatic Text Replacement that allows users to assign a certain text or phrase as a shortcut and enables them to retrieve and text the entire phrase with a simple tap using the ATR shortcuts. Adaptxt quickly wrapped up a bonus treat for its Mr. Sumit Goswami – CEO, KeyPoint Technologies users and that is Handwriting Recognition feature. It is an experimental handwriting feature to boost quick input from users. Help us work with you to grow this experimental feature into a full-fledged prime feature. Commenting on the launch of Adaptxt beta version 1.0 for Android Tablets, Mr. Sumit Goswami – CEO, KeyPoint Technologies said, “We have been expanding horizons with Adaptxt® Tablet Beta 1.0 for Android; Adaptxt has been consistently evolving for the best since its inception; with the rising popularity of Android Tablets it was only a matter of time till we expanded our expertise from smart phones to Tablets. We believe in offering our users with a versatile text input solution that isn’t device dependent”.
and affordability for the Indian population. The tablets also need to have contents that are relevant to users in India and cater to their unique needs in their local languages. Our priority is to cater to web access and educational needs of the society that is unable to afford computing devices. There is a special focus on students and creating educational content relevant for Indian students and their unique needs. A big majority of India falls in this category. We want to take technology to them and make it relevant in their lives,” informs, Nafis Kazim from Shyam Networks. According to Kapil Wadhwa from Champion, the tablet as a device scores over others because of its compact size, larger screen than smart phones and reasonably good processing power. “We foresee that the education and entertainment content would play a driving force in the adoption of tablets. With the increase in e-books both educational books and fiction/ non-fiction and entertainment ( movies, music and games ) being consumed on demand and on the go, the tablet provides the right user experience,” he is quick to add on. Talking about the tablet demand in India, Alex Huang from Asus opines that, the demand for tablets has poised phenomenally as users start to experience the limitless potential of Tablets. “Users have started opting for innovative options. Tablets are portable when compared to computers and definitely more user friendly, have a bigger screen to work What Future Holds There are 900 million mobile phone subscribers but only on, if compared to a smart phone. They also have apps which 18 million broadband connections are available. This gap make work easier and faster. Tablets offer convenience and a segment is our priority. “We want to create a product that better work/life balance, making it easy for employees to keep creates an optimum balance between usability, performance information with them and utilize business apps, no matter where they go,” he adds on. 18 | August 2012 MOBILITY www.mobilityindia.com
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