Are You Ready to Pop the Tablet?

Its raining tablets. If you think the market is overcrowded, consider what Gartner has to say. According to the research firm, the IT spending in 2011 itself will be largely driven by media tablet sales. It projects that the tablet sales would reach $29.4 bn in 2011, up from last years sales of $9.6 bn. That is more than 200% growth. It is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 52% through 2015. Unit-wise, 64 mn tablets are likely to sell this year, which will go up to 326 mn by 2015.

Apple (iPad), Dell (Streak), Samsung (Galaxy Tab), CISCO (Cius), Lenovo (IdeaPad Tablet K1 and A1 and ThinkPad Tablet), RIM (BlackBerry PlayBook), etc, are just some of the better known names. Go to any shopping sites and you will see a plethora of such products; many companies you would not even have heard about.

Compared to the developed nations, India is at a nascent stage but is a fast growing market that has witnessed increasing demand if sales of 158,000 tablets (CyberMedia Research) till date are considered. Factors like increased internet usage, lower tariffs, and availability of relevant content for the Indian customers will accelerate the adoption of tablet PCs in India.

Clearly, a new category of consumer electronic devices has emerged and this wave of media tablets will dominate the entire ecosystem of applications and media. Over the past one decade, technological advancements and their applicability have had an inevitable and irreversible impact on the evolution of businesses. Technology is evolving at a very fast pace. It is important not to focus on the technology itself, but more on the application of a technology for meeting business needs.

India is a fairly nascent market for tablets but fast growing and there is an immense potential for all players. While there is stiff competition with the influx of new players, our strategy is to educate the customers about the utility of a tablet, its features, and unique attributes thereby increase preference for the BlackBerry PlayBook, says Sunil Lalvani, director enterprise sales, RIM India.

Tablets have their own differentiating ease of use which in the long run results in the user vouching for the product. With many players in the market, an individual consumer may prefer a known label while an enterprise may opt for gadgets that are close to the known labels in usability factors. Even the price factor would play an important role in the game of choice.

But the tablet market is expected to eat into the pie of the e-reader market, which according to the market estimates reported approximately 6 mn e-readers off the shelf in 2010. This trend is on the back of reports by Forrester that by the end of 2012 the number of individuals flaunting tablets will overtake the owners of e-readers.

With the phenomenal growth expected in the tablet market in India, the prices of the gadget and connectivity (3G) is expected to go on a southward drive. Apart from that, there is also expected to be new feathers to be set aflutter with the introduction of 4G and also greater penetration of Wi-Fi. Just like the handset market, there is expectation of tablets being a marketing battleground. The battle is going to increase with increase in 3G penetration and improvement in the Indian backbone infrastructure and introduction of 4G and greater penetration of public-Wi-Fi.

Today, the market for expensive smartphones itself is significantly high. There is no reason that the tablet market would not witness high growth. There would be large reduction in prices going forward. Organizations like Reliance Infotel are already toying with the idea of rolling out a tablet costing `3,000. It would be really interesting to watch how the scene pans out in the future, feels Sandip Biswas, director, Deloitte India.

Users Choice

A tablet PC has enterprise capability to support work functions such as integrating the reporting system, time management, and all business capabilities. The PlayBook has taken our experience from the BlackBerry smartphones and
amplified them. Its a device that fits the lifestyles and needs of professional users, producers, artists, etc. It is a device that helps me do what I love right from gaming, professional use, web browsing, and social networking. And, I have options of the kind of content I want to consume, shares Lalvani.

I found the experience to be quite user-friendly and convenient, both for entertainment and professional purposes. Attachment of the keypad to the tablet makes it a laptop and more, feels Biswas.

Different Notes

A tablet is no longer the standard piece of priced possession but a matter of innovative use as reflected by Market Xcel. Market Xcel has tied up with cluetec, a German firm, to utilize tablets for data collection. This enables Market Xcel to track location, bring quality and efficiency in data collection, and at the same time save time and cost. This procedure was put in place in September 2011 and is currently being tested on various types of projects. This service can be used for all types of segments ranging from farmer interviews to B2B audience.

The use of tablets in market research for data collection will eliminate the use of paper and pen approach over a period of time. There are paid apps available that can help you in data collection using both iOS and Android platform. Technology helps us to create a better case in front of the clients with respect to the quality of data and the locations where data was collected. It also facilitates additional features like taking photograph of the respondent, recording of interview using dual cameras, says R Vishal Oberoi, CEO, Market Xcel.

In another major development VIA Technologies Inc, entered into a strategic partnership with Simmtronics Semiconductors for the manufacture of tablets powered by WonderMedia PRIZM SoC (System-on-Chip) platforms in India to target the Indian tablet projects. Simmtronics will manufacture the devices in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, to service particularly the education segment.

Even the government move to capitalize on the use of tablets is also in line with industry moves. Recently, under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT), Datawind will supply 100,000 Android based tablets at an all-inclusive price of `2,250 per unit.

Enterprise Application

If there has been an innovative use of tablets, enterprises are also not lagging behind. However there could be an increased use in the education segment, during air travel, and specific sectors namely education, business world, music performances, etc, are expected to benefit. Consumerization is a fast moving trend that organizations are struggling to keep pace with, remarks Steve Durbil, global vice president, Information Security Forum.

Media tablets have been in the market for the past few years; however the adoption of the same for enterprises has grown at a very slow pace due to process, control, and security governance issues. Policies are being defined under the ambit of ISO and issues on maintenance are also covered under ITIL framework. Adoption of technology has never been a challenge but the standardization of devices would help organizations to a large extent, informs Subramanya C, CTO, Hinduja Gobal Services.

With the evolution of business models and changing business processes companies today are embracing technologies for effective collaboration and communication. There is a growing demand for adequately managing information and training people on the benefits of using these IT propositions/models, feels Ashok Sethi, CIO, Sapient India.

The leading concern with BYOPC is reduced security. The second most important issue is around compatibility with existing infrastructure. However these issues will be ironed out over a period of time. Globally, Barclays is very much cognizant of the demand of resurgent technologies and is ensuring that we are able to leverage on them. However there is a strong focus around ensuring that we carry out a strong assessment of information security model, usage, and data portability on these devices. There is a dedicated team incepted to run with this and we are in the process of doing internal staff rollouts and testing. Based on these analyses, policies and guidelines are being put in place, informs Chandra Gupta, director and head of information technology, Barclays Corporate India.

On a Final Note

On a final note, while there are consumers who will go for competitive pricing and decent technology, however a great demand for tablets with cutting edge technology will continue.