Tablet Trends: Need Quality To Sustain Quantity

The Indian tablet market is seeing good growth but experts warn that the industry might find it difficult to sustain this growth unless players make an effort to develop an ecosystem.

While there are aggressive launches by tablet vendors, the market may not as bright as it appears. Experts have cautioned that vendors need to come up with quality devices and a good ecosystem needs to be in place to fully exploit the tablet opportunity in the country. (See Tablets Get Hotter, Competition Intense, War Amongst the Locals? and Microsoft Makes Its Tablet Debut.)

"The reality is that the local market here is still not that vibrant. The desired ecosystem still does not exist. You can not use tablet for a PC. It is mainly an access device. Simultaneously, it will be challenging to convince a consumer to replace his smartphone with a tablet," says Deepak Kumar, an Independent Telecom Research Analyst.

According to a research by Cyber Media India Ltd., about 350,000 units of media tablets were sold in the first quarter of 2012 alone, compared to the 475,000 units in the calender year 2011. Samsung and Apple are the dominant players in this segment. Even though tablet sales in the country have seen considerable growth, there is skepticism around the tablet utility and its actual usage.

"That's a huge growth but you need to understand that numbers can be misleading. You need to know how many devices are actually being utilized to access the Internet or for productivity purpose. Many of the existing models are below par in terms of quality. Low-cost shipments is one thing, but is there a long-term potential?" questions a senior industry expert on the condition of anonymity.

In a recent move by Uttar Pradesh state government, the new Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced to give free tablet computers to the students who completed class X. But the catch is, what purpose will it serve if the device itself is incompetent to meet the basic need of computing? The plight of Aakash is already well documented as the government is struggling with the launch and re-launch of the device. (See Aakash: This Sky Has Limits.)

The industry is also witnessing challenges in producing quality content for the tablets. The industry expects it will takes at least 24-36 months for the ecosystem to develop, which will include the availability of highly digitized content and a good 3G and 4G network coverage. As operators expand 3G and 4G networks in India, it will act as an impetus to the growth of tablets and smartphones in the country.

While Indian device manufacturers were able to launch value-for-money feature phones which dramatically changed the market, it might be difficult for them to repeat the success in the tablet segment. This is mainly because unlike feature phones or entry-level devices tablet, experience is not just about functionality. The quality of experience is what will define a successful tablet.

"Education and healthcare will be the key sectors where tablet adoption will continue to witness a good uptake. It [tablet] is a new market opportunity and Apple Inc. and Samsung Corp. will continue to dominate. However, unless there is a significant drop in the prices, the adoption [of tablets] will remain in the niche circles," comments Vishal Tripathi, principal analyst at Gartner Inc.

That's quite a realistic statement. While it's exciting to see new [local] players competing and launching exciting [tablet] products in the country, it is extremely vital to ensure that the products match the need of consumers. Assembling some components from China and launching the device just for the sake of it will only pollute the ecosystem.

- Jatinder Singh, Principal Correspondent, Light Reading India