Tablet PCs in India

Tablet PC  market in India at present is very small with sales varying from around 1,00,000 to 2,50,000. However these numbers (sales of tablet PC) are also not 100% correct . Last few months there has been an upsurge in buying of tablets primarily because of blackberry reducing its prices of its playbook model. The market share of playbook in Indian market is 20%( Samsung  galaxy being the market leader with 55% share). 

Apple I-pad did not have a good start in India as its share in a low volume Indian market is only 6%.Apple earlier neglected india and there little advertising in india is also only on their i-phones and Macbooks. Apple CEO tim cook recently said that they would love to have india as their one of the good markets but the distribution structure in india is not very good for premium products. 

Tablets itself create confusion in the minds of consumer as people are not sure whether tablets can replace their smartphones or laptops  or both or neither of them. Reliance launched an advt campaign recently (with ranvijay n anushka onboard) showing multitasking benefits of a 3G tablet, showing smartphone as nothing but an instrument to be used as a torch, urging Indian consumers to buy tablets instead of smartphones. Micromax also launched a funbook tablet and funbook pro and the company also claims that they have sold 1,30,000 tablets in last 4 months.

 Tablets at present would appeal to only those people who already have a laptop and smartphone both and want to try a new product( mainly the high income group). They were also the earlier buyers of smartphones when smartphones were launched in indian market in 2004-2005.  Both micromax and reliance does not have the brand equity to satisfy the needs of high income group. 

Tablets also suffer from the infrastructure problems in telecom industry in india as tablets are a device which are to be used  on the move but high speed internet is not available in india. India ( unlike developed countries) does not have wifi hotspots at public places nor india has full fledged 3g network, so the purpose of buying tablets fails here. The sales of tablets in india will be exciting to watch in next few years as many experts claim that there sales will be close to a million in next few years, which segment tablets will be sold highest will also be in question as Indian population would be going for mid range tablets offered by Indian companies or high range tablets offered by Samsung or apple( also including Microsoft surface tablet.)??

Tata Nano

  Indian car industry is really going through the toughest time in last one decade owing to a net  increase in petrol prices By Rs 5/L. Although there are chances that today petrol prices may come down by Rs 2/L .However another news came day before yesterday that oil ministry has advised finance minister to put up an excise duty of Rs 1,70,000 on small diesel cars and Rs 2,50,000 on sedans and SUVs. However, The amount is too big but justified considering that diesel consumption has increased because of these Big SUVs. If this thing is implemented Petrol cars whose sales were down will again be back in competition.

One petrol car which i want to discuss today is Tata nano,the world's cheapest car.  Ratan Tata  surprised everybody when He announced 7-8 years back that his company tata motors will launch a car with a price tag of Rs 1 lac.Many big automakers thought this as unachievable and It is not possible to make a car with a price tag of Rs 1 Lac supporting Bharat 4 norms. But january 2008, tata nano was launched in delhi auto expo and automobile journalists from all over the world were in delhi to cover the event.Although the car was launched on the 100th anniversary of Model T car( to know about T car follow this wiki link henry ford's T-CAR), just like T-car created a storm in American market in 1908 catering to middle class population of America , the same ratan tata had expected form NANO.

Tata nano did not have a good start, It was supposed to be made in singur,west bengal  but protests from mamta banerjee forced tata motors to shift its factory to Sanand, Gujrat, The car which was supposed to be lauched in oct 2008 was then lauched in march 2009. Few months into the launch the car was available only through bookings and initially few cars(only few,not more than 4-5) were burnt while being on roads and this did not go well with Indian consumers and many people cancelled their bookings.This was the first impact which lead to low sales of tata nano over the years. However, i think there could be more reasons which were responsible for low sales of Tata nano..

1. Indian economy had undergone a sea change from 2003 to 2009( till the time Car was officially launched) , Per capita income had increased by more than twice the amount. M800 was no more the largest selling car and it was replaced with Alto which was priced 30k higher( and also it was revealed that alto VX priced almost 2.9 Lacs was the largest selling model within ALTO). Now with the car like Nano existing car owners did not show keen interest in it.

2. The car initially was marketed in such a way that its a car for low middle class income people which did not go well with the indian consumers who always feel pride in buying whatever they buy.People started calling it as Poor man's car.

3. The increase in price of petrol was also a big reason why people did not buy this car as the main target group of this car were those people who were most price sensitive towards petrol.

however the company has launched its revamped model Nano 2012 and also changed its marketing strategy with their new ad campaign involving youngsters, Before this they also had an advertisement in which they highlighted the problems faced by two-wheelers,that was a very good campaign.Hope tata Nano receives good response  in future and its sales in last few months have been good too( considering that all petrol car sales are declining, but nano sales are constant ).

Indian Automobile industry

Indian automobile industry has gone major rapid changes in the last 14 years. I would be discussing only cars here because i love discussing about Cars.Before 1983 there were only 2 cars manufacturers in India ambassador(Hindustan motors) n Fiat, both cars were big in size and also expensive( and also not attractive,although some may argue on it.) Then in 1983, a joint venture between govt of india and suzuki motor corporation took place to produce small cars in india. Then came maruti 800. This car was  highly successful  and was largest selling car in India till suzuki Alto replaced it.

1998 was a great year for indian car industry as three new models(small cars) were introduced by three different manufacturers( namely hyundai santro, daewoo matiz and tata Indica). Out of three SANTRO become the most successful and was second largest selling car in india till 2008. In the last 4-5 years many new models have been launched in different segments and many car manufactures have come and set-up shops in India and selling all types of cars( hatchbacks, sedans,MUVs, SUVs). Nissan n Renault are the latest to join the list and Peugeot will also start  manufacturing cars in India by 2014. car industry was witnessing a good growth in India (neglecting the slump in 2009 because of recession) till  mid-2011. High inflation made RBI hike interest rates  and this took a toll on sales (In india ,75% of the cars sold are sold on credit.) People started shifting their demands and the manufacturers had to look for other options to sell a car. some had a tie up with financial institutions to sell a car at an interest rate below the bank rate (Hyundai did this thing to lure customers.)

Now, car manufacturers have another problem in hand, the problem of fuel price hike. people are re-thinking whether they should buy a car or not since petrol prices have crossed 70 mark in delhi. As a matter of fact Suzuki Alto had a 40% reduction in its demand as its sales fall  from 32k to 17k and was replaced by suzuki swift as the largest selling car in the month of April 2012. Swift sales are increasing because of its diesel  model. Diesel car sales are at an all time high because of their fuel efficiency and also huge subsidy provided by govt on diesel, perhaps this is the only thing which is saving car manufacturers at the moment. Subsidized diesel is for poor people but as of now SUV owners  and luxury car owners are making good use of it. Running cost of a  diesel car is Rs 2.5/km whereas  on petrol Its Rs 6.5. With increased VAT by delhi govt, Running cost of a CNG car is Rs 2 and considering the time one has to wait  for his turn at CNG gas station, Its better to go for a diesel car then a CNG one( Govt attempts to go green fall flat.. :D  ).

 

MAY 2012  sales figures

Now the car manufacturers have a problem in hand , how to sell their petrol cars( they have spent huge amount of money in setting up engine plant and getting other things in order). Perhaps giving Huge discounts is the most they can do now. Govt of india is thinking of putting a diesel tax( to recover part of subsidy on diesel) on vehicles, If this thing is approved this will be another blow on car manufacturers.Even if govt do impose diesel tax on vehicles then its nothing wrong as majority of private diesel cars are above  Rs 5 lacs and are owned by upper middle class and high class people who drive their cars daily to go to their workplace and do not use public transport. Subsidy is not for them, it is for poor.Putting tax on diesel vehicles will reduce demand of diesel cars and increase sales of petrol cars.It will also result in less consumption of subsidized diesel.Another solution can be dual pricing of diesel for commercial and private cars  but this can cause black marketing and corruption.

 So car makers who enjoyed golden period from 2005-2011 are in for a tough task here. What will be interesting to see is their marketing strategy to sell petrol cars and also increase their production of diesel vehicles( and with no clear policy on diesel, they may not go for big investments in diesel cars.)

English Football And Indian Audience

English Football And Indian Audience

Barclay's premier league (as its famously known) is the top division of  football league of England (and Wales) and is payed between top 20 clubs. although the league is going on since 1888, but it became premiership tournament in 1992. Football in India has been in pathetic state right from the start and is pathetic even now.( although INDIA did play in  asia cup last year in Qatar.) but still nothing has improved.In januray,I went to see the match between INDIA n Bayern Munich( yes, the same team who is playing champions league final on may 19) and the match more looked like a sponsorship commitment on the part of German club for AUDI. India was defeated 4-0.Sadly, there is not much to talk about Indian football.

English football is being telecast in india live through ESPN STAR SPORTS for last so many years. football  viewing became popular in india only after 2002 world cup, when the football was telecast live by then new channel TEN sports. many adults,kids n teenagers( including me) who earlier had not seen much of professional football started watching football.I still remember FRANCE the defending champion had lost out in first round.
So, that's how football viewing became popular in india. BPL slowly became popular n 90% of Indians  who used to watch football( at that time)  became fans of Manchester UNITED( may be coz they were winning and they also had David Beckham the most popular english player at that time), n sum others( including me) became fans of 2 other famous clubs ( arsenal n Liverpool). Then subsequently, with euro championships n world cups, football became more popular  in India.  as of now in  2012,football( particularly) BPL has become very common among teenagers n adults. and it has become a big market in india.

Manchester united has been the most aggressive of them  to cash in on this big market. They opened cafe bars n restaurants in india through a franchisee mode with an indian company (link ) and other clubs are following too. all the big sponsors(kit suppliers) of these clubs are selling jerseys of these foreign clubs in india n many big brands( like pepsi) are getting associated with football. pepsi even launched a campaign "change the game" to support football, although they later re-framed it again in favour of cricket. The end of last Season was great with MANU failing to win n MANC winning it in extra time. the success of other clubs in BPL will make them follow MANU n many more will come in india to fulfill their commercial interest.

IPL- black money n spot-fixing.

This Blog is about the latest controversy involving Fringe IPL players, being lured by Franchisees for more money ( read black money) n also spot fixing being present in domestic cricket. Cricket is a game which is always in news. Any game involving money will always be in news. TP  sudhindra was caught on camera trying to fix a no ball in one of the domestic T20 mtaches n salabh shrivastav  was talking on phone to fix a no-ball in an IPL game for Rs 10 lacs..( wow!! 10 lacs  for just bowling a no ball in a match). spot fixing will always be there and its very difficult to stop.Player caught in spot-fixing should be banned.

Coming to black money, many domestic players seems to be receiving it. It may sound strange but a concept of black money is not new. Its an open secret that all the property transactions in delhi ( or in fact all over india) are done with more than half the black money. India TV which carried out sting operation, they themselves must have bought their office and studio by paying more then half in black. If indian domestic players are receiving it , then there is nothin wrong in it. These players deserve money as much as foreign players. Many players( like shikhar dhawan, saurabh tiwari, Venugopal rao) are receiving money in crores just because they have played 2 or 3 ODI matches n other domestic players are receiving only 30  lacs, just because they did not play international cricket.. how fair is that?

IPL auction in JAN,2011 -->    http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2011/content/story/495820.html

however, there is a little danger with this concept of black money as big teams like mumbai, pune will end up buying all domestic players  by giving huge sum of money IN black and other teams will be left with nothing. But ipl 4 had some new rules of retaining  players. Chennai superkings , delhi daredevils and mumbai Indians retained MS Dhoni, sehwag  and Sachin tendulkar respectively  by paying them 8 crores,  and chennai also retained raina by paying him 6 crores( the amount was settled by mutual consent of both franchisee n player). Now this is unbelievable, some one like gambhir was sold for Rs 11 crores in IPL auction, gambhir got this much money then why some one like dhoni, sachin n sehwag would agree with Rs 8 crores??? one can easily guess that they may have received good amount of money in black too by franchisees.
 

IPL( from the start) made a good choice by putting a cap on total spending by each team  on players annually, unlike EPL( english football) where sheikhs of Manchester City have spent millions of dollars on buying top players and any team in EPL can spend  any amount of money and there is no stopping.  In IPL the cap on  total money spent is good but the cap on domestic players is stupid and unjustified. rather then having a cap on maximum amount there should be a limit on minimum amount a team should pay to a domestic player( eg an amount of 30 lacs should be given minimum to a domestic player who has played for 5 seasons) and all these players should come up in auction. This way all the money being spent will be out in open and domestic players will also get the amount they deserve and one more thing if any such player is then caught then not just a player but a franchisee should also be punished as the franchisee is making an offer, not a player.

IPL- 5 years of entertainment..

I would like to start my blog with my greatest passion --CRICKET.. n nothing at present is bigger in cricket den IPL... IPL known as INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE is a BPL (English football) of cricket, with largest fan following all over d world( in comparison to other T20  leagues,thanks to indians living all over d world.) IPL which was started just to stop ICL has become much larger den just a T20 league.  money being poured in from all over the country n corporates, film stars all queuing up to buy a stake in every team.  team auction which went in 2008. mumbai was sold highest at around 111 million USD,with rajasthan being sold for 67 Million USD. Nobody had guessed that rajasthan which was thought to be the weakest team will win,so IPL from the start went on to be super-hit. n just before IPL 3 season 2 more teams were sold for 320 million n 370 Million. now dat was a huge amount n suddenly BCCI became richer by 3400 crores( although money was to be paid  in a period of 10 years n Kochi team was terminated last year due to non-payment of installments) but this thing certainly increased market value of all the teams.

then came IPL 4 , with two new teams added,players were put on auction again,many gud players were Retained by their teams. n gautam gambhir was picked for 2.4 million USD by kkr, the highest any player  is getting as of now in IPL. what was more surprising was dat team India rejects rohit Sharma,robin uthhapa ,yusuf pathan,irfan pathan were sold for 2 Million usd (if this is the amount u r gettin for playin IPL) why would one like to play for Team INDIA??

N now we r in business end of IPL. all matches going on till final over?  but Trp ratings are going down. why??   all stadia are getting good attendance, matches being interesting ( atleast much better den stupid bollywood movies n Daily soaps). why people are not watching it on TV?? many advertisers are now losing interest on IPL. what could be the reason??

1. The first and the biggest reason i can think of is too many matches in too less time. seriously dere are far too many matches for everybody's liking. Like football leagues, there should be matches only on SAT/SUN. less matches  would keep viewers interestin and also good TRP ratings. if they have to reduce matches (as IPL has only  2 Months window) then they should, otherwise overdose of  matches will kill IPL brand.

2. I think broadcasters should stop calling IPL as  combination of cricket+bollywood. Bollywwod  poeple don't know even ABC of cricket n when dey start commenting( or rather i should say start giving expert comments it looks very funny..



The money being poured in IPL is huge and it deserves it, India being a big market for cricket, its players should get good money . even though the money which Indian players are earning is only 10%-15%
 of what footballers all over the world are earning. IPL will make Indian fringe players more competitive as  for 2 months they will share dressing rooms with the biggest players of international cricket, getting tips from the best coaching staff, so it is good for Indian cricket.

Thanks,
KARAN DHINGRA,
PGDM-MARKETING 
JIMS,rohini, DELHI

 next blog-->  IPL  recent controversy black money n match fixing...