Reselling 'entertainment' picking up fast with channel

Whether it is an iPod by Apple, Yepp by Samsung or the recently released Xbox by
Microsoft, today the channel is focusing on reselling entertainment experience
to their set of customers in big as well as small cities.

When it comes to reselling entertainment, in the present scenario customers
are looking for features in music quality as well as other functionalities in
terms of better organizing themselves. Global vendors like Apple have recognized
this trend for delivering this converged functionality for the end-user.

“We are servicing Apple products including iPods here in Delhi and the
market is picking up quite well. Whether it is an iPod or the recently launched
Xbox, today customers know what they want, so as a reseller it is our duty to
provide the best to our customers. Converging technologies of providing high-end
musical experience and personalized preferences about color etc is driving this
entertainment market to not only bigger cities but even to smaller locations of
the country,” explained Prabhu Dev, Partner, Delhi-based Mac Clinic.

“The timing for the launch of Xbox 360 couldn't have been better. The
Indian gaming community is currently at an inflection point and is poised to
have exponential growth in the coming few years as digital experiences emerge to
be a defining norm in collaborative entertainment. The Xbox 360 will serve to be
a catalyst to fuel this growth and expose Indian gamers to next generation of
entertainment experiences.

We're pleased to be able to bring them what they want, much ahead of any
other console. Xbox 360 has been a great success worldwide and in Asia and we
fully expect gamers in India to embrace Xbox 360 with the same enthusiasm as
they have done elsewhere,” explained, Mohit Anand, Country Manager,
Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft.

In continuation of its existing relationship with Redington, Microsoft has
partnered with the distribution house for distributing Xbox 360. “We are
confident that together we will be able to reach out to the ever expanding space
of gaming enthusiasts in India. We will be retailing the Xbox 360 through our
1,200 strong retail network across top seven cities in the country including New
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore. Our initial
focus is on seven cities, however we do anticipate demand from other centers as
well and we intend to service these requests through our distribution network,”
Anand added.

Converging technologies

Most resellers feel that converging technologies in the field of gaming, audio
and video is delivering just the right amount of entertainment with mobility
needed to fuel the appetite of customers in big and even small cities of India.

“We do not say that we sell devices or products. We are 'reselling the
entertainment experience' and today most of our customers specifically look
for devices that are going to give them the best of both the worlds. So whether
it is an iPod or Yepp, customers are going after the best options in
entertainment,” said, Kapil Jain, CEO, Bhopal-based Microworld.

According to R Zutshi, Deputy MD, Samsung India, the company is expecting the
digital audio player market in India to double this year compared with the
previous year. “As the entertainment segment is getting bigger and bigger,
this year, we are expecting the market to touch 365K units, with the organized
market contribution growing to 30 percent of the total market based on the
growing range availability and attractive pricing of this product in the
organized channel,” he added.

In addition to this, Samsung is also expecting that the market for MP3
players will show a strong growth this year. “These expectations are based on
the growing awareness on this product category, the overall growing popularity
of convergence products, the need for mobility amongst consumers and the growing
product availability in IT shops, music stores and large format retail stores as
well,” Zutshi added.

Talking about the changing market dynamics in the entertainment reselling
segment, Amit Gupta, CEO, Jalandhar-based Computer Vision said that the young
generation is always looking at gadgets that can give them style and multiple
functionality at the same time. “They want to store more number of songs, they
want good quality music and style as well. So overall, this is what is driving
entertainment device reselling,” he added.

Even though reselling entertainment is catching up fast in the big and
smaller cities, the channel community is facing problems in the form of dealing
with grey market goods and ever changing technology products. “For most of
these entertainment products, vendors keep on changing the models and pricing
quite frequently. So whether it is an iPod or Xbox, it becomes a big issue for
us to stock the right quantity of product according to the market needs. Plus
there is this situation where different products from Taiwan or China are
available in grey market quite easily. We have a big benefit in terms of after
sales support but still these are problems that come in entertainment device
reselling today,” Gupta explained.

Zia Askari