Mobility(tablet story)

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The Indian Market The tablet market in India is zooming amazingly. There is a stiff competition with the introduction of low-priced tablets; they’re within anyone’s grasp. The wide spread acceptance and considerably advanced features and facilities has certainly proved out to be a boon for the expanding tablet market. With further additions to this technology i.e. in the form of a calling tablet (Phablet) or Tablet PC; Tablets are here to stay. www.mobilityindia.com

Last year, the tablet market in India has seen a massive growth in its market shares.

It has emerged as one of the most dynamic segments in consumer electronics in recent times. Industries like healthcare, education, financial services, and mediaare creating major demand. Concepts like BYOD are also gaining traction amongst enterprise users.

Consumer demand patterns for computing devices have been constantly evolving with

ability to multi-task, portability, network connectivity, long battery life along with decent software and hardware being the most sought after requirements in computing devices.

With rise in mobile population and increased proliferation of Wi – Fi & mobile broadband networks such as 3G and 4G, tablets slowly now have emerged as a viable option to fulfill the communication, entertainment & connectivity requirements of consumers on- the-go. mobility June 2014 23

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Tablet Trends According to Peter Chang, Regional Head of south Asia, Managing Director -Asus India, convergence of Tablets with phones i.e. phablets; with PCs i.e. Tablet PCs etc. have broadened the scope for Tablets market.

“Phablets typically have screens that measure from 5.01 to 6.9 and hence avail the best of both worlds to the consumer i.e. the functions of a smartphone and tablet. This is the era of Hybrids and converged devices offering the maximum.

Hence the audience is constantly seeking for newer innovations. Both the segments, Smartphones and tablets have their defined segments and offer some unique propositions. They both are certain to co-exist. They both may have to deal with the phablet market though,” he adds on.

According to spokesperson from Samsung, Samsung Spokesperson Now consumers view Tablets not just as a business productivity enhancement device but as an indispensable personal device which is an extension of individual personality and empowers them to consume and create content, utilize apps and experience innovative technologies, making their lives easier. the company has received a fantastic response from consumers for its set of tablets, which contribute significantly to its market share.

“We foresee incredible opportunity in the growing Indian Tablet market and Tablets will continue to remain a key focus area for Samsung. Now consumers view Tablets not just as a business productivity enhancement device but as an indispensable personal device which is an extension of individual personality and empowers them to consume and create content, utilize apps and experience innovative technologies, making their lives easier. Samsung offers differentiated products to meet the disparate requirements of consumers. There is a proliferation of phablets and tablets as distinct categories, with the intent of providing the “best” experience at the “right” screen size. The tablet market is expected to become more dynamic with differentiation being driven basis user experience and bundled services.We are confident of maintaining our strong growth momentum and consolidating our market position,” 24 mobility June 2014

the spokesperson from Samsung adds on.

As per the views of RohitMidha, Director, Tablet Business Unit, Lenovo India, “We can expect to see ‘innovation’ lead growth. With Service Providers increasingly investing in wired and wireless broadband networks (3G / LTE) the computing needs of Indian consumers are bound to grow. Tablets will significantly gain from this. Innovation would also mean organizations / industry verticals would adapt tablets, with customized applications and software, to enhance organization efficiency and employee productivity,” he adds on.

“Phablets are definitely gaining momentum in the country. As for Tablets, both from a price and value for moneypoint of view, it has a dedicated target audience. Again as the computing needs increase, one will start to see the phablet and tablet co-exist with the same consumer,” Rohit adds on.

According to Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO of Swipe Telecom, the year 2013 was a great year for the Tablet PC market. Tablet sales in India grew 56.4 per cent to 4.14 million units against 2.66 million units in 2012, according to industry estimates.

The trend has continued through 2014 as well.

“With the increasing affordability of tablet PCs, there are many first time buyers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities who are increasingly choosing to buy tablet PCs rather than traditional computers, and this segment of people is going to be the primary driver for tablet adoption in the near

Mr. Peter Chang, Regional Head of South Asia, Managing Director - ASUS India A combination of affordability, user experience, aspiration and utility will make tablets a strong proposition for Indian Consumers including their variants like Phablets etc.

extremely bullish about the growth of the overall Smart device market in 2014-15,” he adds on.

Speaking about the tablet market in India, KapilWadhwa, Managing Director, Champion Computers said that, the tablet market in India is growing tremendously. The kind of innovative tablets that are being launched have the latest specifications and are yet very affordable. With the growth of low priced tablet there is neck to neck competition in the market. The tablets have already starting transforming into phablets or tablet pc. Tablets are here to stay with considerable innovations leading to many hybrid series.

“The preference of the consumer is changing rapidly with the change in technology. Buying a phone with 5-7 inch previously was not even considered an option but now it has become the latest trend. Rather than buying phone of the same size, people prefer a phablet as they give the experience of a tablet and a phone. The smartphone market and phablet market co-exist and they will keep on growing on the same platform,” he added.

Mr. Rohit Midha, Director, Tablet Putting his opinion on the tablet trends Business Unit, Lenovo India in India, Amul Mittal – Co Founder, Zync Indian consumers look for ‘value for money, ‘and a budget tablet facilitates a Global, says that the Indian tablet Market generic Indian consumer’s tablet appetite. as whole is in fact eating up the business of the laptop market and according to the Business Insider Intelligence’s latest report on future.Looking at the rise of internet penetration the tablet market says that the market grew and increasing demand for tablets in India, we are www.mobilityindia.com

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segment this year. We are expecting a good number this year and hope to achieve that in the next quarter,” he explains.

According to AdityMehta ,Spokesprerson, Wickedleak, “We at Wickedleak are bullish on the tablet space and see strong demand in the 2014-2-15. They main deterrent to demand was lack of WiFi and 3G connectivity .However with renewed focus and a strong government. We expect tablet pc demand to According to Indrajit Sabharwal, MD of Simmtronics go up by more than 300% as Semiconductors Ltd. the big idea is first to create a infrastructure , awareness grow brand identity in the tablet category by providing , strengthening of rupee will drive down manufacturing affordable yet feature rich experience to the customers. costs,” Adity adds on. post sales comes first with Simmtronics. “India has Providing information huge potential towards creating large demand for about India’s tablet market, tablets. According to various studies, more than 60% VikramYadav (Vice President is the entry level segment tablets. Our focus is to – Tablets) LAVA International quickly get into that slot with our distribution. Also says that India’s Tablet market we are planning to get into the higher segment which has emerged as one of the is dominated by big brands, then again our aim is of most dynamic segment in affordability and features in that segment and quickly consumer electronics in create the big differentiation for our brand,” he adds on. recent times. Last year, tablet sales in India grew 56.4 per cent to 4.14 million units against 2.66 million consumers is increasing multifold,” he ads on. units in 2012, according to industry estimates.

“According to Canalys, tablets will contribute Budget Tablets Diversity in India gives the tablet 50% to the overall PC market (desktops, manufacturers huge opportunity. The target notebooks and tablets) globally. The trend will be visible in Indian Tablet market too. India is already audience comprises defined sects i.e. low cost observing a transition from desktop PC to Tablet range, middle range and elite high end range.

PC, as more and more people are seeking to adopt These segments co-exist and different OEMs the mobility offered by Tablets. The young Indian continue to target their defined set of audience.

“Budget segment in India has immense consumers’ increasing preference for Tablets and the younger demographics’ desire to use mobile potential as any product which is for masses is Web technologies will see the Tablet PC’S markets witnessing wide acceptance. The point to look Mr. VikramYadav (Vice President – revenues soar. In the next two years, there will be out for users is that if they are getting quality Tablets, Lava International) a strong adoption of tablets in India particularly offerings or not,” Peter Chang from Asus adds on.

One of the major challenges in the As per the views of Shripal Gandhi from in the Enterprise and Education sector. Ease of tablet industry currently is the lack of fast connectivity. 3G penetration is still not use, long battery life, mobility, ability to multi- Swipe, “It is a misconception that Phablets high in India, thereby underutilizing the task, instant on/off and substantial breadth of (Smartphones with display sizes over 5”) are a true potential of tablets in India. available applications will contribute to this rapid threat to tablets. In fact, Phablets are an entirely growth in demand in sectors like education, auto, different category of Smart Devices, and the body options, colourful key panel along with healthcare, retail, BFSI etc. And with value for phablet market is growing at an exponential rate. much sharper resolution. We have focused more money tablets being easily available, popularity The people who opt for a Phablet are primarily on the quality, service and the ordinary consumer of the device amongst budget-sensitive those people who want a larger Smartphone. about 74% in 2013 to 226 million shipments.

“While the PC shipments dropped over 8% in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to the same quarter the previous year. Moreover they also forecast close to 500 million tablets shipments in 2016 which is absolutely a stunning figure. The advent of low-cost tablets has fuelled this growth.The tablet market has caught the frenzy of the masses and has taken the world by storm. We expect growth to be broad-based, with contribution from all geographies, verticals and service lines. The quarter went by saw a rise in sales, aided by a weak rupee.The growth in the tablet market is being propelled by the launch of low end, cost-competitive devices by international and local vendors which are narrowing the price gaps that exist between smartphones and tablets. The corporates are also incorporating the usage of tablets in their organization to increase efficiency. We have lined up of few budget models to be introduced within this year; higher specification that is from 512 MB RAM to 1GB RAM and from 4GB memory, we have expanded the internal memory to 8GB. This will provide our customer will better speed and more storage. With the rise in competition, we have styled up our gadgets by giving it various colour

www.mobilityindia.com

mobility June 2014 25

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They do not look at Phablets as a substitute for tablets. If anything, the competition for Tablet PCs are traditional computers, and as tablet specifications get beefier, it may be a war they will eventually win. As technology progresses, hardware is becoming more affordable. For example, our MTV Slash 4X is a Quad Core HD tablet PC, available for under Rs 10,000. From the users’ perspective, if they are getting top notch hardware with premium branding at a bargain, why would they spend Rs 35,000 on an expensive tablet? So yes, Budget segment tablets are indeed doing better than more expensive models, and it is this very segment which will drive growth in developing markets like India,” he explains.

According to Kapil from Champion, the choice of tablets depends on the particular lifestyle of the consumer. Some people prefer low end tablets, some prefer from middle level to high level.

The basic requirement is providing the quality product and which is available for the masses.

Mr. Kapil Wadhwa, Director, Champion Computers Tablet market is set to gain constant traction with its different variants and form factors.

“Champion has always believed in manufacturing product for masses and will continue doing the same. We have always wanted champion to be the house hold name and after years of hard work we have seen the change. We have introduced Champion Phablet DM6513 which is targeted towards the masses with cost of just Rs. 6999 with all the features.

We have never compromised our quality with the affordability. We have made sure that affordability comes with the quality,” he adds on.

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According to Amul Mittal – Co Founder, Zync Global, everyone wants to own a portable device which helps them shed their work load without bleeding their pockets. In recent times, India has widely accepted the tablets and from a trend it has become a requirement, a necessity. The untapped non-metro markets are also eager to buy tablets for educational and entertainment purposes. Both budget tablet and big expensive model buyers are different.

“Our target market is primary the younger generation and people who want to own a gadget at an affordable cost with superior technology.

These people are early adopters are always in sync with the latest information and multimedia usage on the go. A lot of corporate organizations too are realizing the need and usage of such devices for communicating with peers and the industry at large. The tablet value proposition for the Indian consumer is dependent on a combination of affordability, user experience, aspiration and utility. India is a huge market with a good mix of both type of buyers; it depends on one’s spending power, requirement and preference.

For eg a customer who trusts in Apple will buy an Apple tablet than a budget tablet looking at the brand, quality and features while on the other hand few others would prefer to attain features in a budget price and would go for a budget tablet, considering the cost, warrantee, guarantee, after sales service and features being provided at a lower cost,” he explains.

Speaking about emergence of budget tablets, VikramYadav (Vice President – Tablets) LAVA International said that the budget segment tablet market will continue to perform better than expensive models as the consumers are consistently looking for a valuefor-money product that acts as a one-stop device to meet their entertainment, content consumption and on-the-go connectivity needs.

“Tablets in the 5000- 7000 price bracket mostly offer Wi-fi only and there is a huge demand for such products in education sector as they provide personalized learning to students through videos, apps and customized content. On the other hand, enterprises prefer to equip their team with a portable device catering to computing and voice-cum-data connectivity needs at an affordable price; thereby bringing products with 2G/3G capability into the picture,” he explains.

As per the views of Adity Mehta, Spokesprerson, Wickedleak, the company has witnessed a convergence between the two.

However another factor which is obstructing

Aditya Mehta, Founder, Wickedleak The Demand is surely in the Budget Space as a major consumer for tablet pc is the 10-15 year olds and hardcore gamers (18-35). the growth of the tablet market is lack of wifi infrastructure as primarilty tablets are wifi devices.

“The customer so far has been forced to use a tablet with 3G sim which makes the tablet compete with a 5 inch phone while a purchase decision is being made.The Demand is surely in the Budget Space as a major consumer for tablet pc is the 10-15 year olds and hardcore gamers (18-35). The parents (decision-makers) tend to prefer low cost tabs. The expensive tabs are mainly used by executives which are less in numbers for sure. This will change in coming years as more and more people get use to the idea of owning a tablet,” Adity explains.

The India Strategy Speaking about the India specific strategy spokesperson from Samsung says that India is a diverse market with different consumer requirements and device preferences.

“Samsung offers a diverse and compelling product portfolio across categories and price points, which appeals to a broad section of consumers. In the Tablet category, Samsung has Tablets ranging from INR. 12,000 to INR. 60,000, catering to broad demand from various target audience and age groups. Samsung is committed to introduce best products powered by innovative www.mobilityindia.com

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Amul Mittal- Co-founder, Zync Global The growth in the tablet market is being propelled by the launch of low end, cost-competitive devices by international and local vendors which are narrowing the price gaps that exist between smartphones and tablets. technologies to deliver superior user experience.

Samsung spends 6% of its sales earnings in Research and Development to ensure that we offer products that meet customers’ requirements and take their experience to next level. We are focused on our customers’ needs and our products are a reflection of what our consumer’s demand due to which our market share continues to grow in India,” the spokesperson adds on.

“In India, it’s both value and price that work for the customer at large. Hence you need a different strategy from the global markets.ASUS has always believed in innovation and efficiency and we deliver products with excellent quality, reliability and performance. Our prime strategy for tablets is to offer product line that excels in security, responsiveness and other exciting features that give a user the most complete and satisfying computing experience. Though the tablets we offer are available at different price points, we do not compromise on the quality.

In the tablet segment, we have products at different price points with best in class features and hybrid designs with a solid output. Our product focus has been on providing a better computing experience to the user and we have been delivering on our In Search of Incredible brand promise,”Peter Chang from Asus explains.

ASUS presently have Fonepad, Transformer Pad, Nexus 7, MeMO Pad, www.mobilityindia.com

Fonepad 7, PadFone, Vivo Tab RT, additionally, inches in size. The growth of any device is defined recently launched phabletFonepad 7 by its consumption pattern, which is ambiguous Dual SIM has also been widely accepted. at present. Looking at the purchasing trend in Explaining about the India strategy, Rohit India, keeping in mind that our consumers are from Lenovo says that Indian consumers look for price sensitive, we feel that smartphones will ‘value for money, ‘and a budget tablet facilitates only impact the sales of the 7 inch tablets in the a generic Indian consumer’s tablet appetite. category but not the overall sales of the other “Mainstream tablets (<15K) is where the market sized tablets in the industry. Both smartphone is going to see robust growth. Our strategy has and tablet have very different usage,” he adds on. been portfolio play based on the back bone of As VikramYadav (Vice President – Tablets) innovation; providing the right product at the LAVA International puts it, though affordability right price for every segment. The international will be a common thread among the products award winning Yoga would continue to from Lava, continuous innovation will happen in lead the Premium segment,” he adds on. form of customized solutions for enterprises to Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO of Swipe meet their business needs. “For instance, we are Telecom says that a good technology company in process of developing applications for SMEs focuses on both – Innovation and affordability. In that cater to their accounting needs. Similarly a market like India with tremendous competition, we are coming up with custom built solution a company cannot succeed by only offering for the healthcare sector as well. This year, we innovative products at a premium, or offer will launch tablets on Windows platform apart affordable products for the masses with legitimate specifications.

It has to be a mix of both.

“Swipe Telecom has always believed that technology should be accessible to all. We have introduced Today people are looking for devices several firsts in the Indian market. which offers them good features and can For example, we launched India’s be used on the move. And these days not First 3D tablet PC – the Swipe 3D only the Indian brand but all the big brands life, or India’s first co-branded 6” likes of Samsung, Lenovo, ASUS are also Fablet – The Swipe MTV Volt. Most launching good quality devices in the low of our products have features that cost segment, which gives consumers a good have been introduced for the first option to opt for tablets that comes in half of time in India. The real achievement, the price of a desktop. however, is that we have managed to So this makes a great impact in the market offer these products at an extremely and smartphones and tablet are the most cost effective price,” he adds on. demanding devices in the market today. In Amul Mittal – Co Founder, Zync India we saw a huge drop in the desktop PCs Global says that given that a bulk (78%) of the phone market in India that fell around 26% in 2013-14 and set to still consists of feature phones, 2014 is see a 16% dip in volumes this year. Whereas likely to witness an explosive growth tablets are rising about 27% to finish the in smartphone adoption. People year with sales of 4.3 million units, according have now advanced from usage of to data compiled by IMRB. feature phones to smart phones.

“When we compare the tablet and the smartphone markets, then we realize from Android as the enterprise segment has the demographics are very different of both the shown affinity towards Windows based devices categories to start with. Any smartphone above due to a better user interface,” he explains.

6 inches in length is not a smart phone but a According to Adity Mehta, Spokesprerson, phablet and tablets start from a minimum of 7 Wickedleak,” We will surely be focused more

Tablet sales will beat desktops this year:

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The Next Big Thing

Star products under 15k category Asus: Asus Fonepad 7: Rs. 14,999/Asus Fonepad 7(Dual Sim): 12,999/Nexus 7 2012 16 GB: 15,999 /Champion: Champion DM6513: Rs 6,999 Champion Trendy 531: Rs 13,999 Lava: QPAD e704: Rs 9999 IvoryS: 8499 Velo+: 5000 Samsung: Tab 3 Neo – INR.12,740 Lenovo Idea Tab A3000: 14,999 Swipe: MTV Slate MTV Slash 4X Halo Fone Wickedleak: Wammy Ethos Tablet PC: Rs. 10,990/Zync: Zync Quad 8: 12200/Z605: Rs. 7,999 Simmtronics XPad : Mini quad core: 9,999 XPAD Freedom: 12999

on affordability as it is key. However we already have plans to extend our AquaProtect – Waterproofing technology to the Tablet Offering and Launch Water resistant tabs soon.

As more than 47% Devices are damaged due to water. We hope to shake up the market with this and also offer great value in terms of utility to customer especially in a Country like India which has heavy rainfall each year.”

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A combination of affordability, user experience, aspiration and utility will make tablets a strong proposition for Indian Consumers including their variants like Phablets etc.

“Industry has witnessed tablets unveiling by various existing and well established brands as well as by lower tier vendors at entry level.

As varied are the offerings by different vendors, the segment that they are targeting are equally divergent. Moving forward, we expect to see more of low cost tablets with ultimate features entering the market and shaping up the market forces,” adds on from Asus.

Rohit from Lenovo says that, “You can definitely watch out for: • •

• •

Higher resolution displays enhancing customer viewing experience Innovative UI and features to expand tablet usability - entertainment and professional use, including vertical specific applications Window OS tablets at affordable prices though Android would still be 80% of the total market Devices will become powerful yet remain ultra-portable,” he explains.

Shripal from Swipe Telecom says that Tablet- Laptop hybrids are devices that combine computers and tablet functionality in a single device with an option to dual boot.

“We feel that hybrids may just be the next big thing in tablet market, and are conducting extensive R & D in that area,” he explains.

VikramYadav (Vice President – Tablets) LAVA International says that one of the major challenges in the tablet industry currently is the lack of fast connectivity. 3G penetration is still not high in India, thereby underutilizing the true potential of tablets in India.

“There will be a huge surge in demand for tablets once 4G network starts penetrating in India. The device manufacturers have already started working on creating 4G capable devices.

Manufacturers and network operators have to collaborate to take 3G &4G to the masses to create a win-win strategy for all stakeholders.

Such tablets will be a huge hit amongst the enterprises as it can easily take care of their high speed computing requirements which the current network infrastructure & penetration are not able to meet adequately,” he adds on.

As per the views of Kapil from Champion, the

Mr. Shripal Gandhi, Founder _ CEO of Swipe Telecom Budget segment tablets are indeed doing better than more expensive models, and it is this very segment which will drive growth in developing markets like India.

Tablet market is set to gain constant traction with its different variants and form factors. “We believe that technology should be available at affordable prices, especially in Indian context. We will be introducing numerous ranges smart phones with top-end features, phablets, tablets and data cards at very affordable rates. We will work on the design and performance of our products to make them feature rich, eye-catching and at the same time easy to use. We have already introduced some of them in Q1, 2014,” he explains.

Amul Mittal – Co Founder, Zync Global says that the company’s research and development is not only restricted to technological advancement but it is also focus a lot at understanding the market needs and demands of the consumer.

“We are well entrenched with the latest technological developments, thus providing a better consumer experience at affordable prices.

We are currently maintaining 7-8 products in our line-up and continually evolving with the changing tastes and preferences of people. We are looking at increasing RAM and ROM, resolution of the screen, the look of the tablet. We will also concentrate on pocket friendly products going forward! The consumers in India will mostly look at more advanced specifications. The technical features offered by the upcoming gadgets will now look at higher RAM and ROM, more compact in size, wearable technology and Ultra HD Screen.

Moving from the basic processor, all the new tablets will be of quad core processor,” he adds on. www.mobilityindia.com

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