Modem sales shoot in 1998-99, says IDC

New Delhi, 29th June 1999 — IDC’s

Quarterly Modem Tracker reveals that modem sales in 1998-99 registered an increase of 88.4

percent in unit terms and 9.6 percent in value terms over 1997-98. IDC estimates that

modem shipments reached 291672 units, with revenues touching Rs. 126 Crore.

The high growth rate is a direct result of

the dramatic increase in the Internet subscriber base in India. Substantial reduction in

prices and easy availability has further fuelled this growth. Intense competition,

especially from Taiwanese and other Asian vendors, led to a dramatic reduction in prices

over the previous year.

Among the various speed categories, the

33.6 kbps modems dominate the total modem market. However, the share of 33.6 Kbps among

all speed categories is fast declining as 56 Kbps modems have been registering a steady

increase in their sales quarter after quarter.

alt="Modem Market 1998-99 by Unit shipments" align="left" border="0" hspace="5" vspace="5">

Price was perhaps the only factor that

mattered in 1998-99. Most vendors decided to play only on price, because of which the

Average Sales Values (ASVs) of modems came down drastically during the year. The

importance of using a low-price strategy is clearly evident from the fact that the ASVs of

the top three vendors were among the lowest in the market. These three vendors, namely

Dlink, LanBit and GVC, together captured almost 63 percent of the market in unit terms.

About IDC



IDC (India) Limited was formed in 1987 as an affiliate of International Data Corporation
which is based in Framingham, Mass., United States. IDC provides IT market research and

consulting to more than 3,900 high-technology customers around the world. With a global

network of more than 500 analysts in 42 countries, IDC is the industry's most

comprehensive resource on worldwide IT markets, products, vendors, and geographies.

IDC (India) today is the country's most

comprehensive, dependable and respected resource for market research and consulting in the

field of IT.

With its head office at Gurgaon, the firm

has branches at Bangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai.

IDC India's World Wide Web site (http://www.idcindia.com/

) contains additional company information as well as information

about IDC India's product/ service offerings.