Why Tablet is important for SPs?

Global as well as local tablet vendors such as Samsung, HCL, Micromax, Simmtronics etc are gaining from this and solution providers need to better position themselves in terms of providing end to end tablet integration with IT solutions.

As more and more vendors are launching better configuration tablets in India, it is being adopted at the enterprise level at a very fast pace and hence solution providers should look at more seriously top integrate their solutions around the tablet ecosystem.

So whether it is the customer centric hospitality segment or patience centric healthcare vertical, tablets are fast getting adopted by IT decision makers and CIOs and hence it is becoming an important part of the whole IT ecosystem now.

And to fan this adoption, enterprise is finding it easy to connect and carry and its features towards enhancing mobility and at the same time, productivity – are making these tablets a pretty big it among the big or small enterprise community.

In a situation like this, solution providers and system integrators should surely be looking at honing their skill-sets in order to provide better solutions to their enterprise customers.

Enterprise Application Integration

Today, the segment of EAI or enterprise application integration has a completely new meaning for the enterprise and hence for the solution providers as well.

More and more tablet applications are being integrated towards the enterprise side and it is surely it making things easier for the solution providers to better integrate their solutions and give mobility wings with the help of tablets.

Moving forward more and more solutions line CRM, ERP, hospital management systems, hotel management systems, CAD software integration, educational software management and even segments like security and surveillance are set to see more tablet integration in the coming months.

Low-Cost Tablets Take India by Storm, says IDC

In line with the ongoing ‘tabletization‘ of the market, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker data for CY 2012, the overall tablet market in India has reached approximately 2.66 million units, a whopping 901% year-over-year growth from 2011. The tablet market exploded from a fledgling niche category into a thriving and intensely competitive market within a span of 12 months with cheaper and smaller screen-size form factors leading the charge in the second half of 2012.

Figure 1

Source: IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker 2012

“The unprecedented growth was fueled by 6-8 local and top international vendors, namely Samsung and Apple, ramping up shipments and aggressively launching new models, especially in the 7-inch device space, to meet the growing consumer demand in the low-cost tablet market in India,” said Mansi Yadav, Senior Market Analyst in the Client Devices team at IDC India.

Low cost (<$250) Device Traction

Figure 2

Source: IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker 2012

The low cost 7 inch tablets made up for close to 78% in the total volume shipments for Q4 2012, the growing contribution of local vendors and the increasing Chinese imports in the Indian market can be attributed as the primary reasons for this trend.

Android was seen as the dominant OS choice in the market, owing to the Chinese imports and local vendors who together comprise close to about 70% of the total tablet market in India. Chinese unbranded/Whitebox market took up a sizable chunk of the tablet market as well. Most of these vendors operate on a “fly by night” model, wherein they flood the market with low-cost tablets and vanish within 2-3 quarters.

Vendors Ranked by Unit Shipments, India Tablet Market CY 2012

Vendor

1. Samsung outperformed the local vendors by ramping up its 7 inch device shipments and driving the prices of their tablets down.

2. Micromax entered the market only in Q2 2012 and cornered a significant shipment share owing to its value for money portfolio in tablets.

3. Apple, came in third with its range of niche iPad devices. The 7 inch iPad mini was launched in Q4 2012 and helped the brand reach out to the more “price-sensitive” audience as well.

Future Outlook

According to IDC’s forecast estimates the India tablet market is expected to reach a total of close to 6 million units in 2013, driven not just by the low-cost tablet space but also a slew of public sector projects that have been announced recently. Several state governments like UP, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Chattisgarh have already announced plans to deploy tablets for school and college students with an aim to improve the digital literacy rate among students. IDC expects these projects to have a snowball effect as other states will also look to replicate these initiatives.

“The growth in the India tablet market is expected to slow down and become more stable in 2013. However, mobile operators can play a bigger role in better adoption of tablet devices among consumers with complementary data plans, better – wider 3G connectivity and local content availability,” added Yadav.