The market is now set to undergo changes with the grey market’s share slated to go down from its current 90% to 60%.
KOLKATA: We may see the action hotting up in MP3 players by year-end. The category has been thriving in the hands of the grey players — thanks to the Indian consumer’s rapid embracing of digital technology and devices. The market is now set to undergo changes with the grey market’s share slated to go down from its current 90% to 60%, because of about 18%-25% erosion in price points in the organised sector. Earlier, the price gap spanned 25%-30%.
Also, as consumers mature, they are willing to pay a little more for stylised products that offer more than normal functionalities - in terms of longer battery life and playback time, better designs and aesthetics. Thus, more sophisticated products are coming in. The focus is also on wearability and portability.
“Indian customers today demand the latest technology… The MP3 market’s profile is rapidly changing in India,” said Ken Nakazawa, group head, Sony India.
Players in the organised space include Apple which leads the pack with 70% share at the end of the first half of this year, followed by Samsung and Creative — both commanding 8% each. The others in the fray are Sony (3% market share), iriver (5%) and YES (5%).
Samsung recently launched YPD1, the world’s first MP3 player with a digital camera while its YPZ5’s USP is its “intuitive user interface”. LG is also planning to make a foray into the NexGen MP4 player space that supports audio and video while Creative’s offerings include hard-disk drive (HDD)-based players. “MP3 is definitely our next focus area and we are targeting 15% marketshare in this space,” Ravinder Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India, said.
Some of Apple’s price points on ebay are as low as Rs 1,549 (plus handling charges) while a few from Sony are pegged at even less. Apple price points at the higher end range from Rs 9,400 -Rs 12,999 while Sony high-end models command a little under Rs 20,000. Samsung has a line-up of five flash-based MP3 players, priced in the range of Rs 4,390-21,500.
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