1. What are your big focus areas to concentrate on Indian MoBo market today?
The big focus area for us presently is the mushrooming DiY (Do-It-Yourself) market in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. These regions are from where the most demand for the DiY PC is coming from. The markets here, which was till a few years back, dominated by box-pushers, are witnessing a growing breed of resellers who are providing customised PC systems. End-users there are becoming more tech-savvy and are demanding systems with their preferred configurations. Only cost is not only the criteria for buying the PC anymore. High performance rig, with quality features, supported by world-class post-sales services is fine with these emerging customers – even if they have to pay a bit more for these.
GIGABYTE motherboards, with its power-saving technologies and innovative features, have a lot to offer consumers, who are increasingly demanding PC systems with improved performance and high durability.
GIGABYTE is also focussing on offering motherboards that address and tackle the prime concerns of the average Indian PC user – humidity, high temperature, power failures and static electricity. GIGABYTE motherboards, with their unique Ultra Durable™ technology (the name we have given for our quality standards), are designed to overcome these concerns. This means our motherboards are not only efficient in terms of performance and power consumption, but are also capable of keeping your PC safe and long-lasting.
2. How big is India’s MoBo market today and what is your market share in this segment?
In India, we expect a stable demand for DiY systems in the future with the market which is close to around 17 million. As the PC penetration level in India is still around 6-7 %, we see Class B and C cities as growth drivers for DiY PCs.
GIGABYTE has emerged as the leading motherboard brand in the DiY market.
3. What kind of technology trends are defining the current and future market scenario for MoBos?
These are some of the trends that are gaining popularity in the motherboard market.
Mini ITX Form Factor: Mini ITX form factor devices are progressively making their mark in mainstream market. Mini-ITX products are finding bigger market acceptance with the rising demand for HTPCs (Home Theatre Personal Computers) and also, SFF (Small Form Factor) PCs. Coming to Mini-ITX form factor-based motherboards, the popularity of this motherboard type is likely to enhance further mainly because it is power-efficient, economical, and occupy less space, while guaranteeing superior performance.
Product Features in Demand: Indian users are ever more preferring motherboards with HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, and SATA3; and those which support DDR3 and SSD drives.
While HDMI ports are generally used for HTPCs to connect to TVs, USB 3.0 ports are becoming one of the very fundamental needs for even lower-end motherboards because even entry-level users these days insist on faster transfer speeds.
Products Catering to Needs of the Average Indian PC User: Products addressing the major worries of the average Indian PC user will become more accepted. These worries are humidity, high temperature, power failures / fluctuations and static electricity. Motherboards should come with technologies, which protect PCs and their components from these everyday threats faced by the Indian user.
Motherboard companies should be dedicated to offering quality motherboards with not only competence in terms of performance and power consumption, but which are also capable of keeping the user’s PC and components safe and long-lasting.
Gaming Motherboards: The gaming sector is seeing a double digit growth since the last few years. PC-based gaming is a major component of this growth, which is fuelled mainly by the consumers’ rising affinity for leisure gaming activities, and of course the rise in disposable incomes. In this context, we foresee a rising demand for gaming PCs, which is good news for vendors of gaming-specific components and peripherals. Moreover, the gaming sector is yet to be tapped effectively by vendors. PC motherboard manufacturers have started offering a lot more gaming motherboards in India than what they used to, a couple of years back.
4. How are you as a brand aligning with these trends?
With the HTPC concept gaining fast popularity in India, we recently launched the GIGABYTE BRIX, our range of ultra-compact and versatile DIY PC kit. The GIGABYTE BRIX comes as an attractive solution especially because it optimizes power consumption, while offering a lot of processing power and connectivity in a form factor that is small enough to be placed anywhere – whether on your desk or even within you home entertainment setup
Mini-ITX systems are gradually becoming popular in India, especially among those who seek an HTPC build or have limited space for their rig. There are only a few Mini-ITX motherboards available today in India, out of which GIGABYTE has the widest range of motherboards in this category. In the Mini-ITX category, our popular motherboards include GA‑Z97N‑WIFI, (the only Mini-ITX currently available in India that comes with dual gigabit (GbE) LAN; GA‑H97N‑WIFI (one of the company’s 9 Series motherboards), and the GA-J1800N-D2H.
GIGABYTE’s Ultra Durable™ motherboards cater to the requirements of the average Indian user guaranteeing better PC and component protection from the country’s harshest weather, and power conditions. The average Indian PC user is faced with a range of everyday threats, including humidity, moisture, electro-static discharge, sudden power loss and high operating temperature. This is where the GIGABYTE’s Ultra Durable™ motherboards come into play. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ is a series of innovative technologies that originated with the aim of offering motherboards with high-quality, highly efficient components designed to ensure maximum durability, safety and longevity for today’s high performance motherboards.
In our latest 9 Series motherboards, based on the Intel Z97/H97 Chipset with support for the latest Intel 4th and 5th generation Core processors, we have already launched over 10 Gaming Motherboard models. This is the first time we have launched so many gaming models for any particular chipset series in India. GIGABYE 9 Series gaming motherboards are the only motherboards providing 4-Way SLI and 4-way CrossFire extreme graphic card support. In the gaming series, GIGABYTE is the only DIY motherboard with audio OP-AMP technology.
GIGABYTE also has in India, other chipset-based gaming motherboards, such as the GA-X99-Gaming 5P in the GIGABYTE X99 series motherboards; and GA-B85M-Gaming 3 in the GIGABYTE 8 Series motherboards.
5. What is your opinion on the rise on gaming and hence its related requirement for better and rigorous computing in India?
Gaming is surely picking up in India, and nowadays you come across PC gaming contests being held across the country in colleges, cafes, malls, and community halls. GIGABYTE, which is delighting gamers globally with its G1™ Gaming motherboards that feature the industry’s highest standards of onboard features and technologies, is naturally thrilled to do its bit for the Indian gaming enthusiast.
In addition to making available the best gaming motherboards, we also offer grand platforms for dedicated gamers to showcase his or her skills, by promoting quality gaming events. We have been continuously offering support to entities, such as tech colleges, IT retail outlets, and gaming cafes, which need technology support and sponsorships for holding gaming events, including contests.
6. What kind of growth are you expecting and where is this growth going to come from?
Although PC penetration is still very low in India, we are expecting slow but steady growth in this segment. A major chunk of this growth is going to come from Class B, C and D cities. Many end-users in these regions are yet to buy their first PC.
Growth is also expected from entities such as the student community, educational institutions, professionals, and SMEs.
7. How strong is your channel base in India and what kind of expansion plans do you have?
We are an entirely channel focussed company. We understand and appreciate the fact that we are where we are because of the trust reposed on us by our channel partners and of course, because of their plentiful support and loyalty towards the GIGABYTE brand.
Fostering and reinforcing relationship with channel partners is the most significant priority for us. We basically have three focus areas for our partners, namely Channel Profitability, Product Innovation, and After-Sales Services.
GIGABYTE is committed to providing every kind of support needed by our partners, be it hosting partner knowledge-sharing meets, providing access to its online GIGABYTE Value Partner Program (GVPP), or increasing its investment in shop branding activities at channel partner retail outlets, especially of those based in Class B and C cities. This is in addition to outdoor branding being carried in the vicinity of IT markets, billboards, metro railway stations and bus shelters, among others.
We will ensure utmost Channel Profitability under any circumstance; provide quick and efficient after-sales services through GIGABYTE Exclusive Service Centres; and run attractive incentive and loyalty program for partners that also include special holiday packages.