Samsung, Micromax and Datawind (Ubislate) take top honours for the quarter

Market expected to notch up 3 million units by end 2012 and double or more in 2013 as numerous OEMs eye the India market for consumer and enterprise demand plus government business

Gurgaon, January 4, 2013: The overall India Tablets market recorded sales of 1.1 million units in 3Q (July-September) 2012. This was reported in the India Quarterly Media Tablets Market Review for 3Q 2012, December 2012 issued today by premier IT, Telecoms, Semiconductor & Electronics, Government, Energy, Lifesciences and User research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR).

In the overall India Tablets market, Samsung led with a 23.9% share, followed by Micromax at second position with 15.3% share and Datawind at third position with a 12.3% share, in terms of sales (unit shipments) during 3Q (July-September) 2012.

Table 1.India Quarterly Media Tablets Market: 3Q (July-September) 2012*

*Source: CyberMedia Research (CMR) India Quarterly Media Tablets Market Review for 3Q 2012, December 2012
** Excludes sales of Aakash tablets to Govt. of India

In a very short span of time the India Tablets market has become one of the key drivers of data / content consumption in the country. This is apparent from the fact that close to 135 vendors have launched their Tablets till 3Q 2012.  The ASV(Average Sales Value) of Tablets in India during 3Q 2012 was approximately INR 13,200, while 63.5% of all sales were below the INR 10,000-mark.

Trending Features                                                                                                                      

Some of the trending features in terms of specifications of Media Tablet devices in theIndiamarket during  3Q 2012 are given in Table 2 below:

Table 2. Key Feature Trends:IndiaQuarterly Media Tablets Market, 3Q (July-September) 2012*

*Source: CyberMedia Research (CMR) IndiaQuarterly Media Tablets Market Review for 3Q 2012, December 2012

According to Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice, “A majority of the Tablets currently on offer have built-in Wi-Fi connectivity with 3G access enabled through a USB dongle. However, going forward, increased penetration of 3G networks, declining ASVs of 3G-enabled Media Tablets and launch of BWA (4G / WiMax / LTE) services in the country is likely to see a rise in 3G-only Tablet devices with larger screen sizes. This trend is expected to give a fillip to new types of data services and content being demanded and consumed by subscribers, which in turn will drive a further increase in adoption of Media Tablets in India.”

Commenting on the results for the CMR study on the India Media Tablets market for the third quarter of 2012, Tarun Pathak, Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice said, “I expect this to be the last quarter that will show the kind of ‘stereotype’ ranking results typical to the India market. During  4Q 2012 and through 2013, we expect to see a change in the rankings, with global leaders like Apple and Google coming into their own, especially after the launch of the Apple Mini and Google Nexus range of Media Tablets, respectively.”

“These new devices closely match the Media Tablets already available from other leading OEMs in India, in terms of specifications and price levels. This is particularly true of Samsung. So it will be interesting to watch if potential buyers of Tablet PCs go for other MNCbrands or whether Samsung is able to retain their loyalty,” Tarun further added.

Outlook for 2013

The Tablet PC market is increasingly becoming one of the most dynamic consumer electronics product categories inIndia.  Year-on-year the form factor has surprised the industry with the highly visible adoption, uptake and usage. For the year 2013, CyberMedia Research (CMR) expects the following to be the highlights of the India Tablet PC market:

• Windows 8 based Media Tablets will be the main highlight in the market. In 2013,Indiawill witness Tablet PCs being made available on MS Windows 8 from all leading OEMs. This is expected to bring about several changes in market dynamics such as OS shares, ASVs etc.
• Enterprises will see increasing adoption of Tablet PCs as part of the larger trend towards mobility. So far enterprises have been trying to understand the role of Tablets in the enterprise space. Through 2012, at different forums industry leaders were seen deliberating upon several industry vertical-focused use cases of Tablets and these are expected to be implemented in 2013. With BYOD an increasing reality, this implementation will very likely to gain an impetus across verticals.
• At least a few OEMs are expected to announce LTE / LTE-ready Tablets for theIndiamarket in 2013. Though we haven’t seen many Tablets announced yet supporting LTE worldwide, but India, rightly poised at the juncture of an LTE ‘big bang’ can be an attractive destination for players who can meet the expectations of Indian customers across segments. Tablets are expected to gain traction as the preferred device for first time computing enthusiasts and for those seeking high data consumption applications over LTE networks.
• There could be some cleansing in the market for sub-INR 5,000 Tablets. 2013 is likely to see some of the players in this segment closing shop due to lack of market acceptability and increasing expectations of consumers, where these devices are bound to fail.
• 2013 will see markets crystallise around three price points for the India Tablet PC market. These will be INR 5,000-10,000; INR 15,000-20,000 and over INR 35,000. Some vendors might have to undertake price corrections to fit their devices within these three price segments, to serve the market aptly and participate in these high-volume price levels.
• According to CyberMedia Research estimates, total shipments for the India Tablet PC market are expected to close at 3 million units in 2012. Further, the market is expected to increase by at least 100% in 2013 (double the number of units sold in 2012). The key drivers for this are a large number of launches by OEMs eyeing theIndiaconsumer market for mobile computing and data communication products, as well as the demand expected to be generated via enterprise adoption of Tablets. In case large deals are announced by vendors for supplies to the central / state governments for distribution to university, college and high school students, the forecast number of Tablet sales for 2013 could easily exceed 6 million units.

Said Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice commenting on the outlook of Media Tablets for 2013, “To my mind two key developments are going to change the India Media Tablets market significantly – one is the availability of Windows 8 based devices and the adoption of Tablets by enterprises for serious and real business applications.”

“The introduction of Windows 8 and its success, if any, will establish the availability of a second OS option for OEMs to develop new Tablet PCs on. The adoption of Tablet PCs by enterprises will change the way in which these devices are perceived at the moment. Tablets will most likely then come to be considered a mainstream device and be seen as much more than a novelty or for restricted use in the Education, Entertainment and Infotainment segments. This will signal the arrival of the Tablet as a mainstream business device,” concluded Faisal.