Sushmita Das, country manager – India, Kobian, says 2013 will be an important year for tablets and for the mobile industry.

Today’s generations speaks of “viral effect” which happens to be now the fastest method of marketing and declaring a “super hit”. Whether it was Kolaveri-D or Gangnamstyle, the effect and acceptance grew exponentially. Tablet PC have also become the talk of the day for all in a very similar manner. It was less than 2years ago when Apple launched the first “tablet” and tablet market was born. And now 24months down, we’ve seen scores of manufacturers trying to snag a slice of the tablet pie. The sales numbers clocked in by big brands and medium brands are humongous.

Tablet PCs have seen possibly the fastest growth rate amongst any of the other IT products. Conversion from Desktop to Laptop took its time and had niche segments where it started its penetration and slowly grew in double digits. But Tablet is “the gadget” for today’s generation and its acceptance and demand is growing in a similar viral effect. There are various schools of discussion whether Tablet is merely a “show off” or “cool” gadget to carry or can it actually is the answer to serious working atmosphere. We believe this is the biggest challenge that “Tablet” sector is facing as the “need” has not been very clearly been expressed to the customers and as a result a clear market size is not yet determined.

But various brands and companies have realized that Tablets are for the next generation and the connect ratio is much higher than it was previously with Notebooks or Desktops. Thus there is a huge influx of brands coming in the Tablet space. Sadly India being one of the most price conscious markets, the “price” plays the greatest factor in the decision of purchase of a tablet. This has resulted in companies bringing in extremely low quality products at extremely aggressive price. There is a huge chunk of users in the market who are really not aware of the functionality and the use of tablet, but they do desire to possess one. And this is the segment which is easily swayed by products which are priced low or which are seen on the various media / commercials. Very less introspection goes into understanding the specifications and functionalities of a tablet; it’s mostly the price which determines the purchase of the same.

We feel above as a great challenge as it can spoil the market much faster. Today’s Tablet user is experiencing the “Tablet experience” for the first time and if the performance, speed, resolution, touch are not satisfying the user shall not only be disappointed with the product but also question the use of the product category in totality. Low cost Tablets have slower speeds thus making images and resolution go par below the normal standards. It can become quite irritating to wait for loading and moving from screen to screen if the speeds are not good. Thus the prevalence of quality products is very important for the Tablet market to grow.

Year 2013 shall be an important year for Tablets and for the mobile industry. 2012 has witnessed an active overlap and synergizing of the mobile and Tablet industry. The New Year shall also be about creating more consumer awareness towards the active use of Tablets in everyone’s life. People at all levels can make working and entertainment easier with the right Tablet in their hand. From Technology trends, the highlight for 2013 on Tablet shall be on improving the current specifications and making the product more effective and easy for the users at all levels.

At Kobian we are focusing on improving the speed of the processor and the display screen. We realize that our USP has been the product quality and the ultimate feel that the customer experience while using Mercury Tablets. On the same lines we are working on Dual and Quad core processors for the Tablet, powered with higher internal storage space. The screen resolution is also a very important part on which we are improving to get a high clarity 1024 pixel quality in a 7in display, True 3D Display and Multi display Tablets.

We have believed in “Technology made Affordable” and this is what shall be taking us levels higher. We plan to widen the product basket by having options on both 3G and Wi-Fi models and powers them with high speed processors and accessories like Bluetooth, GPS etc. We are already amongst the first one to launch Dual SIM tablets and we put a great stress on ensuring that we do not just provide a function but the quality and performance are of high standards. And all above functions and quality at an affordable price where user shall value and be extremely satisfied with the price he paid for the product.

For 2013 we shall be getting some pre loaded applications which shall be unique and be a pleasure for the users. We do not believe in preloading with simple education software which is anyways available in the open market. We plan to create a unique experience for the users and we shall be ensuring the user gets a quality product packed with rich experience and affordable price.

Kobian India country manager Sushmita Das
[email protected]