Peripherals

Peripherals: Catch the action

To provide a better computing environment, vendors are coming up with ergonomic and wireless-enabled peripheral devices. 2007 will see the debut of sleeker products at lower prices. By Chirasrota Jena

The PC market has witnessed a 25 percent year on year growth in unit shipments and crossed the 5 million mark in 2006. According IDC, India is the fastest growing IT hardware products market in the Asia-Pacific Region. IT retailing is changing as IT vendors try out new approaches and go-to-market strategies. The focus is going to be on wooing SOHO buyers and individuals. Experimentation will also be seen in retail formats, in-store and on-site promotions, product bundling, and alternate payment options. Exclusive retail outlets, multi-brand outlets and hypermarkets will lead the charge. With PC market topping five million a year and an installed base of 18 million there’s plenty of room for growth, both from a fresh buy perspective as well as from the upgrade market.

With the abolishment of countervailing duty from flash drives and other memory products coupled with advances in technology, prices will reduce further. Peripherals vendors are trying to provide an exciting experience to the PC user community with innovative products. Computer peripherals, is in for a revolution of sorts in India. A whole bunch of products such as monitors, keyboards, mouse, disk drives, Web cameras, digital cameras and projectors come under the peripherals segment. Most of these are sold or bundled with desktop computers. Today these products have also created a separate market for themselves.

LCD: replacing CRT

The monitor market in India is estimated to be around five million units. PC penetration in rural India and increased PC sales in the upmarket segment were the key drivers for monitors. There is more momentum for the LCD/TFT monitors in comparison with CRTs. Currently LCD monitors with 17” and above are in greater demand. The demand for the 19” TFT is high due to an apt dual purpose utility as a monitor and a TV. In A and B class cities the movement of 17” and 19” TFT is more and in the C and D class locations the movement of CRTs continue to rule the roost. Apart from the sleek designs, good product specifications and a narrowing price gap, between TFT and CRT Monitors, is pushing the market towards LCD Monitors. Worldwide LCD Monitors already account for a majority share of the monitor market. India will definitely see this shift in 2007. R Manikandan, Business Group Head, IT division, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd says, “The monitor market in India is estimated to be around five million units. The LCD market is estimated to be at around a million units and CRT estimated to be around four million units. The market is growing at a brisk pace. The trend of monitor sales is more towards the metros but we believe that upcountry markets are also coming up. In 2007, we expect encouraging growth from C and D class cities. The market for monitors is expanding owing to various reasons like the falling prices of LCD monitors, PC penetration in rural India and increased PC sales in up country markets.”  

HCL Peripherals latest offerings include 19-inch wide LCD monitor, 20.1-inch TFT, LCD televisions and 19-inch CRT monitor. The company is increasing its scope in the display segment by brining in many new product categories. Opines B K Sarangababu, National Manager, Display Products, HCL Peripherals, “In 2006, the monitor industry saw ups and downs and was sharply unstable quarter on quarter. Yet on the overall there was growth with monitor sales crossing the five million mark and at HCL we had a growth of 20 percent. During 2006 the LCD vs. CRT sales constituted 60 percent and 40 percent respectively. Currently our monitor products division has serious plans for the AMJ Quarter. As in the coming months, the home market expands since most parents and students plan to buy systems and monitors (also new monitor replacements) to hone students’ IT skills and also for entertainment and to while their time away with video games, Web surfing etc. during the summer vacation. In general the monitor business for 2007 is expected to take off with high-end monitors. 19” and above range of monitors are going to rule the market and by end 2007 the LCD and CRT ratio would be 70:30.”

S Rajendran, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Mobility and Display Products Group, Acer India says, “Buyers can access large display devices in a wide format now. LCD monitors are finding their place among customers due to sleeker aesthetics and space savings. The entire range of wide screen monitor is now available from Acer in the 19”, 20”, 22” and 24” wide format. Wide screen, bigger sizes, high backlit life on the panel and good designs with lightweight products is what Acer is looking at in the coming months. Acer has acted as a catalyst by being the first to launch a 17 inch TFT at a Sub Rs 10,000 price to the end customer.” 

Wireless peripherals

A market has emerged for high-end input devices such as wireless keyboards, multimedia and Internet keyboards. Health concerns vis-à-vis the prolonged use of input devices has also seen an uptick in demand for ergonomically designed input devices. According to MAIT (Manufacturers Association of Information Technology) keyboards and monitors grew by eight percent and nine percent respectively in H1/2005-06. Vendors like Microsoft, Logitech and Intex in this space are constantly introducing newer products with advanced features. This Bluetooth compatible keyboard, mouse and USB transceiver are designed for those who prefer wireless technology.

Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division recently launched its latest range of hardware products. The 2007 range of high-end input devices, include mice, keyboards, lifecams and headsets. Informs Mohit Anand, Country Manger, Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division, “Our aim is to provide a superlative PC experience to the performance-driven PC user who wants to derive maximum value from the input devices he uses at work, home or on the go. We have entered into the field of Integrated Communication Experience products like Webcams and headsets giving our users a richer communication experience.”

Moninder Jain, Director, South Asia, Logitech says, “It was an excellent year for PC peripherals. Our top selling products were Webcams, speakers and desktops besides the mice. This year saw the launch of innovative products like Logitech diNovo Edge. It is the first Bluetooth keyboard with a Mediapad, combining the functionality of a numeric keypad and wireless PC remote control.

Pankaj Dubey, GM Sales and Marketing, Intex says, “Our new webcam line-up delivers great features that have been conceptualised and designed to provide a good computing experience along with a better quality picture. Our Web cameras have highly improved picture quality with automatic exposure control, colour balance and very sensitive image sensors. We have witnessed 35 percent growth in the overall peripheral business which is higher than the industry average. As the demand for peripherals is coming from B and C class cities, we are planning to widen our reach."

Elaborating on the growth of the peripherals market in India, Maninder explains, “The growth of the peripherals market is two fold. One is directly proportionate to the growth of PC market in the country and second is the upgrade market. We see a huge opportunity is both these segments in the years to come. We are also launching the a breakthrough Webcam product, the Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision that delivers true -to-Life Video with twice the image clarity With the Ultra Vision we’ve redefined performance at the high end by combining a premium lens with RightLight 2 Technology.” This technology adapts the camera’s video settings based on the environment in which the camera is used.

Digicam acquire ‘must-have’ status

Cresting the digital imaging wave, digital cameras did well during 2006 in India. Vendor initiatives coupled with end-user awareness and interest led to this upsurge. Given the expanding IT market, especially increasing PC penetration, the desired foundation for digital camera usage has been created. The digital camera market is witnessing phenomenal growth with a wide range of products available at an affordable price. 2006 saw a tremendous fall in the prices of digital camera with advanced features. Dhiren Singh, Assistant Director, Marketing and Consumer Imaging, Canon India says, “The digital camera market in India grew tremendously in 2006. The industry has seen a growth rate of 65 to 70 percent, while Canon’s digital camera business grew 100 percent overall. Earlier people were demanding 2 megapixel cameras but now for the same price they are able to get a 4 megapixel camera with better picture quality.” Canon is eyeing the retail sector to sell its digital cameras. The company has tied up with retail giants in big cities with its exclusive Digi Click Zones. To succeed in the coming years, manufacturers will need to find a way to manage maturing markets, create a strong brand image in developing countries, and focus on the replacement market.

The projector market has also started picking up in India with the booming of retail and hospitality and education. According to IDC, the Indian projector market has registered a high year-on-year growth over 2006. While entry-level models dominated the market in 2004 and 2005, 2006 saw a shift toward higher-end projectors. As the average selling values (ASVs) declined, consumers showed a preference for brighter and lighter projectors. Portability and clarity ruled the market in 2005. Informs Rajendran, “According to Fisher Consulting’s report the Indian projector market has seen strong growth in 2006 with unit sales reaching 41,535 in the first three quarters. Fisher Consulting reports that strong market growth for projectors will continue in 2007, with unit sales projected to grow by about 41 percent next year. With majority of the sales seen in the corporate, government and education sector, we are already strong in the corporate sector and plan to boost our projector sales in 2007 by aggressively pursuing the vast potential in the government and education sectors.” Vendors like NEC, Acer, Panasonic and Sony are focusing on advanced features, newer technologies and targeting specific segments for their products. Fierce competition among vendors has drastically reduced the prices of projectors. 

Portability has become an important consideration as far as projectors are concerned and therefore small-form factors are fashionable. Besides this, customers are demanding projectors with high lumens and resolution. This is more pronounced in the home cinema segment. Wireless projectors have also made significant inroads into the large enterprise sector. Informs Sandeep C Yederi, Business Head, Enterprise Network Solutions, Panasonic Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (India Branch Office), “We launched the world’s lightest and smallest LCD projector and world’s fastest wireless transmission projectors in India in 2006. These received tremendous acceptance. We now have projectors for homes (for viewing cinema, slide shows etc.) that offer a large screen experience. Businesses are turning more collaborative by the day and therefore, even SMBs are emulating their larger counterparts in buying projectors for conference and meeting rooms.” Panasonic has DLP projectors that will help the film distribution business in the country as these connect to a distributor’s central server over a communication link and project movies in theatres without any film rolls needing to be transported to different locations. These projectors cut distribution costs and save time as well. Panasonic is expecting handsome double-digit growth for its projector business. 

Sanjay Dhuria, Country Manager, NEC India says, “The market is witnessing a clear shift towards XGA projectors due to reduction in prices and reducing gap between the cost of SVGA and XGA projectors. The market for mobile projectors has also seen an upswing with people using projectors to make presentation or as sales promotional tools. This helps them make an impact & an ability to connect with their audience in an easy manner.”

“Our business grew 60 percent in 2006. We gained some key customers during this phase and also entered into a rate contract with DGS&D. This has help us make our product available to a large customer base in the government segment who can now enjoy feature rich, high quality projectors from NEC at competitive rates. We are expecting the market to grow between 35 to 40 percent YOY for the next two-three years,” adds Dhuria.

Cheaper flash drives

Flash memory growth during 2006 was spectacular. The announcement to abolish Countervailing Duty (CVD) brought down the prices of flash drives and DVD writers creating waves. Vendors offering memory products have realised the potential in the Indian market. Says Rajesh Panicker, Country Manager, Kingston Technology Inc., “The total USB pen drive market in India is near about six lakhs. With the introductions of newer camera phones, digital cameras and down trend fall in the memory products prices around the globe the use of flash drives has gone up considerably. Kingston has recently launched its K-PEX multi media player that offers nonstop music videos, recorded TV shows, photos, music and FM Radio on the move.” Kingston has also recently introduced several memory products for the digital imaging industry like 4 GB USB 2.0 DataTraveller, 4 GB Secure Digital High capacity Class 2 Flash Card and MicroSD 1 GB and 2 GB memory cards. Thus Kingston is focusing on its value RAM segment, USB and Flash Drive and notebook and server segment for its various memory products in 2007. With the growth of the PC market sales of general memory products such as SDRAM are definitely going to move upwards.