India media tablet market surges

NEW DELHI, INDIA: As per the latest CyberMedia Research study on the Indian Media Tablet Computer, India sales touched 1.58 lakh units in the nine-month period ending June 2011.

The study points out that market has emerged very quickly with 10 vendors spoiling the customers with a choice of 27 models.

In the nascent India tablet market, 7-inch screen size and Android v 2.2 Froyo OS emerged as the most favoured platforms.

The India media tablet market witnessed high decibel launches by the world's leading vendors, aiming to 'wow' consumers with snazzy, new offerings.

Although the India tablet market is still nascent, nearly 1,58,000 media tablets were sold (shipped) in the nine months ended June 30, 2011.

The split between 3G and WiFi models was in the proportion 70:30. Samsung used a tactical price drop to emerge the best selling tablet brand in India during the three quarters ended June 2011.

Olivepad launched the first media tablet in India in July 2010. The first major international brand to launch followed in October 2010 — the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Apple iPad, the most well recognized tablet, arrived in India in January 2011.

"Tablets provide touch based user experience with a convenient screen size for web surfing, content consumption and entertainment. Moreover, portability, ease of use and wireless connectivity 'on-the-go' make the tablet an even more attractive buy," said Anirban Banerjee, associate vice-president, Research and Advisory Services, CyberMedia Research.

"Currently, the India media tablet market has many more models available with a range of features and at a variety of price points, compared to six months ago. However, for the tablet to become a common man’s device, usage tariffs for high speed data services need to be brought down even further along with useful and relevant content for the Indian consumer," Banerjee added.

RIM’s Playbook, Apple’s iPad2, Motorola’s Xoom and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7 are some of the notable MNC tablet brands available in the India market in the high-end range.

Tablet models in the India market in 2Q 2011 ranged from Rs.8,000 per unit going up to Rs.47,000 per unit. Going forward, CyberMedia Research expects a majority of tablet models to launch in the volume segment at a price band between Rs.7,000 and Rs.15,000.

"Applications like video chat and Live TV already popular with smartphone users around the world are expected to become popular with India media tablet users as well. Further, it is expected that new data focused applications will be developed for the Tablet user community," said Naveen Mishra, Lead Analyst, Telecommunications Practice, CyberMedia Research.

"Newspapers that have their PC- and mobile-specific websites are expected to develop tablet-specific websites and 'apps' as the tablet user base grows and achieves critical, making it attractive for advertisers."

"The launch of low-cost tablets bundled with affordable data services on 3G and BWA networks can be expected to give a further boost to India tablet shipments in 2012 and beyond," Mishra concluded.