While India is one of the largest markets for the phablets — the range of large smartphones with screen sizes between 5 and 6.99 inches — it is the 7-inch tablet with calling that offers more value for the first-time smartphone users. And companies like Pune-based Swipe Technologies are reaping the benefits of large-screen demand from India.
“We have found a sweet spot between Rs 4,000 and Rs 8,000 and this is where we have found massive success,” says Shripal Gandhi, founder and CEO, Swipe Technologies. The company already claims a 6% market share in the tablet market and is aiming to end this year at 10%.
This comes at a time when tablets sales across the world have been contracting. Even in India, there was a 15% contraction in the market, according to IDC. However, IDC predicts a single-digit growth for the segment in 2015 thanks to large government and education projects.
All of the devices in this so-called sweet spot are 7-inch tablets with calling that offer a huge value proposition for those who are looking for their first smartphone or computing device. “Is there any phablet that can offer this value to the user,” asks Gandhi, underlining how most phablets with a large screen are priced close to Rs 10,000. He says the 7-inch tablet is able to benefit from the economy of scale which smartphones can’t.
The company’s top-selling model recently is a 3D tablet, the only such device in the Indian market. However, Gandhi, who has worked with top tech companies like Apple and Samsung before returning to India to set up his own venture, is categorical that his is not a hardware company. He highlighted how education is becoming an important vertical for the company. “We have deployed more than one lakh tablets in the education space and a lot of these devices come with content for specific courses,” explains Gandhi. In the enterprise space, the company is working with SBI for a NFC-based payment solution.
