In India however low PC penetration rates present a higher potential opportunity provided the ecosystem is able to justify new usage models. Motherboard manufacturers in reinventing this category within the ecosystem and their fortunes are closely tied with the success of this ecosystem.
The motherboard industry has reached a high level of maturity, leading to a slowdown in the overall market demand, particularly in Europe and the United States. Even with Intel’s launch of new Haswell processor, the market continued to take a wait-and-see attitude and motherboard vendors are putting more effort into inventory clearance. However, they found little room to reduce product prices due to the wage hikes in China and the recent appreciation of RMB. To maintain profit margins, motherboard vendors have withdrawn from the strategy of cutting down product prices for higher sales volume. As China and other emerging countries are currently the major markets of motherboards, consumers in these markets are more sensitive to price and have a stronger demand for value-line products over high-end ones.
Worldwide motherboard shipment volumes continued to fall 8.6% sequentially to around 31.7 million units in the first quarter of 2015, due to channel distributors revising downwards safety stock levels. Second- and third-tier motherboard vendors are more vulnerable to the impact as they do not have as much influence over distributors as the first tier vendors do. Advertising of Microsoft’s to-be-released Windows 10 failed to spark significant sales as the campaign has lost its freshness. Therefore, it is projected that the worldwide motherboard shipment volume will have dropped 1.4% sequentially to arrive at 31.3 million units in the second quarter of 2015.
Present Technology Trends
For the motherboard market in India, two technology trends that are catching up are gaming and content creation or video editing. Motherboard vendors are pushing to the market products that deliver extremely high bandwidths, which are required by the most demanding gamers or graphics-intensive creation tasks, such as video editing. Also, the next generation CPUs deliver greater performance and energy efficiency as well as very high level of discrete graphics performance. These satiate the needs of gamers who are looking for cutting-edge graphics and audio performance.
“PC rigs that support content creation are demanded by the mushrooming sectors India like media houses, film and TV production houses, studios, research centres/institutions, among others. PC gaming is actually widening the market for the DiY PC, with the rising number of both casual and serious PC gamers. GIGABYTE is delighting gamers globally with its G1 Gaming motherboards that feature the industry’s highest standards of onboard features and technologies,” said, Sunil Grewal, Director, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt Ltd.
“Today’s varying demands of consumers are giving rise to new innovations in PC form factors. The Small Form Factor PCs – basically focused on space consumption, power efficiency & being economical. Media centric PCs: high rise tower form factors featuring all Media ports like HDMI, DVI, USB 3.0 etc. High Enthusiastic user centric PCs: focused mainly on Gamers who are highly enthusiastic in their futuristic demands having all possible connectivity & expandable features. Catering to above needs of users, we at AMD are geared with technologies supporting all varied consumer demands & have collaboration with all major Motherboard manufacturers to ensure consumers get the best of what they need,” said, Srinivas M, Country Manager – Channel Sales & Distribution, AMD India.
“Consumers nowadays are seeking for more convenient and smarter life. We’ll say the new trend will be focused on USB 3.1 high speed spec and Type-C interface. What’s more important, Type-C is an integration of all future input and output interfaces. Starting from PC, laptop to smart phone, we believe more and more devices will be implemented with Type-C interface,” said, Manoj Kriplani, International Sales Division, ASRock.
Vinay Shetty, Country Head, Asus (Open Platform Group), opined, “NVM Express storage will be the next big thing and I’m happy to say that all our current motherboards have full support for it. High-end audio is something we introduced in our motherboards many years back and continue to innovate even today with our Crystal Sound 3 technology found in our Skylake-ready boards.”
“The prime driving factor is the connectivity with the other peripherals. Thus features like USB3.0, SATA II support and HD support have great influence on the current generation motherboards. The market movement also gets affected by the socket and processor support,” said, Sushmita Das of Kobian.
“A more refined segmentation of motherboards is addressing the needs of different pool / group of people / users, thereby creating more tailor-made options that can be presented to the users in the current Mobo Industry and this definitely set a positive trend. MSI through its remarkably strong R&D, has been a pioneer in addressing the segment-specific needs and tailor made solutions. For reference, Gaming Series (Sound, Speed & Stability) Overclocking Series (Performance and Speed), ECO Series (Saving Power) and Classic Series (Durability), etc—all these segments are supported by MSI’s innovative features plus even the overall look & feel of the product is carefully taken care of. For entry, durability, for mid- & higher-segment – a more refined segmentation (Gamers, Overclockers, …etc) is done addressing the needs of different pools of people,” said, Frank Sherap, APAC Sales Dept., Channel Sales, MSI.
“We believe the gaming segment’s proportion in the motherboard industry will continue to grow in the future. For example, we are now seeing increasing number of live broadcast for gaming competitions, showing that the number of people watching gaming competition has increased. Therefore, we have a high hope on the gaming market’s future and placed a lot resource into the development of the LEET. India will be an important market for the company in the years to come,” said, Rajshekhar Bhatt, Country Manager, ECS.
“PC Gaming market is growing sharply. The worldwide gaming market, including video game console (hardware and software), online, mobile and PC games, will reach $111 billion by 2015. We saw the potential, so we are having gaming series motherboards to develop Indian gaming market from this quarter. While we see more and more MB with Mini ITX form-factor and Quad & Duo Core CPU on board (SoC), and getting more inquires. Since the improvement of its performance. Streaming videos such as YouTube and online games, this is also a growing market with the help of faster internet speeds,” concluded, Jesse Chen, Account Manager for India market Biostar.
High-performance Motherboards
“The demand for enthusiast PC buyers is growing day by day in India. These segments of buyers are demanding more compute power & high intense graphic capabilities in built. AMD has been pioneer in providing both CPUs & GPUs meeting the needs of this segment buyers, there by our Motherboard ecosystem partners are geared with providing high end Gaming motherboards with all futuristic built in technologies based on AMD chipsets,” said, Srinivas of AMD India.
“We are constantly challenging ourselves to be the pioneer in our industry. Such as launching the world’s first Windows 10 certified Z97 motherboard, implementing Super Alloy components on our products for advanced quality and performance. You could say that we are moving fast and heading for the top. We’re devoted on developing products which are facilitating human life. ASRock’s new 100 series motherboards are built with the latest technologies. Extreme series is designed for enthusiast and designers with rock-solid stability and performance. Gaming series include everything you need for gaming. Beebox, the most compact system for building home mini PC. Lastly, turn your smart phone into a universal remote controller with ASRock Gaming G10 router,” said, Kriplani of ASRock.
“We have pioneered in this field with our TUF range of motherboards. The Sabertooth series caters to the hardcore enthusiasts or even to the enterprise sectors where the durability is critical for 24/7 use. These boards are designed to withstand thermal shock and even extreme temperatures, which makes them the go-to-choice for enthusiasts and the enterprise segment,” said, Shetty of ASUS.
Das of Kobian claimed, “Mercury is one of the pioneers in the Chipset Motherboard industry in India and this has always remained our flagship product. The demand for high end boards is always a positive sign as it shows an improvement in the ecosystem and also filters away short term players in this market.”
“In the last two years, we are seeing a significant growth in the performance & higher end segment of our motherboards. Thanks to the overall growth in the economy (especially increase in the purchasing power of younger generation) and Easy Access of Information on Internet which are setting the new trend. Also, as elsewhere in the world, the acceptance of Social media & etailers (FB, Twitter, Flipkart, etc) as a marketing & communication tool is making a big difference. With faster and consistent Internet availability and the culture of PC used as entertainment, Gaming, LAN parties, the potential for the demand of higher-end performance segment motherboard & graphic cards is huge,” said, Sherap of MSI.
“We have seen % of mainstream users & enthusiasts growing rapidly for us. PC industry is now mature & people want to pay something more to get those extra features & reliability,” added, Bhatt of ECS.
“India’s demand for high performance motherboards is currently low, but it is a growing and we want to see this grow because we know high performance products also provide better user experience. We will to continue to educate the customers the full potential of what high end motherboards can do, they are more expensive then a everyday motherboard, but they are also needed for the demanding users who need it for gaming, video/photo editing, musicians, or just need speed,” said, Chen of Biostar.
“Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for high-performance motherboards even from Tier 2 and 3 cities. Through our regular partner formal engagement programs in these regions, we are in the process of constantly educating our partners in these regions on the technologies of our higher end motherboards. This orientation programs help our partners enhance knowledge on the innovative features of our products, which allow them to serve their customers better,” concluded, Grewal of Gigabyte Technology.
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. Mini-ITX systems are gradually becoming popular in India, especially among those who seek an HTPC build or have limited space for their rig.
“That’s why ECS will also demonstrate several mini PCs with the company’s latest designs called ‘LIVA’ series this year. The new flagship LIVA Core is the world’s first PC to adopt Intel Core M 14nm processor. It is the combination of performance and power saving, hitting the laptop market by storm by providing more choices for consumers. Brand new LIVA X2 sports a fashionable pearl white finish, breaking the concept of the traditional computer. In addition, ECS LIVA Core and X2 are the world’s first mini PC supporting Windows 10 Cortana voice assistance via native dual microphones,” said, Bhatt of ECS.
“The Mini ITX form factor is here to stay. Mini ITX form factor devices are steadily making their mark in mainstream market. They are finding more market acceptance, with the increasing demand for HTPCs (Home Theatre Personal Computers) and SFF (Small Form Factor) PCs. The concept of HTPC (Home Theater PC) is fast catching the fancy of Indian tech-savvy home users. Knowledgeable users in India were always aware about the HTPC’s versatility vis-à-vis the amazing effects it can provide whether it is for enjoying video or music, gaming or just your casual PC usage. HTPC is fast becoming popular among the mainstream PC users. More than the reduction in the cost of mini-ITX form factor hardware components, it is their ready availability (especially of motherboards), that has contributed to the rising popularity of HTPC rigs. After all, it is a widely accepted fact that only the mini-ITX form factor components can make an effective HTPC. As far as the Mini-ITX form factor-based motherboards are concerned, the popularity of this motherboard type is expected to increase mainly because it is power-efficient and consume limited space,” said, Grewal of Gigabyte Technology.
“Well, we all realize that the compact IT products generate huge responses around the world, changing the average user’s computing behavior. This is why ASRock pays special attention to developing new Mini-ITX mini sized motherboards. The recently-launched Intel Bay Trail Q1900TM-ITX with small form factor that allows users to build up the most compact HTPC system with rich,” said, Kriplani of ASRock.
“Mini-ITX has yet to find its footing in India as many people aren’t fully aware of the concept of the HTPC. We’ve had the Maximus Impact motherboard for a long time in India which gives you all the features of our flagship ROG motherboard, but in a mini-ITX form factor. I believe the HTPC will continue to be a niche segment and won’t develop as rapidly as others,” said, Shetty of ASUS.
“Today’s generation of Mini ITX form factors, personally it’s not only calling a HTPC, because they can do more than just be a HTPC. The performance level of today’s HTPC builds can function as a day to day PC, gaming, data storage and more! Smaller, faster performance than the previous generations, better power efficiency, highly affordable, and best of all which we want is user satisfaction. Means about user satisfaction, in the past small form factors were slow and sluggish or limited functions which works, but doesn’t give that user satisfaction. Today, they are fast, smooth, and work as intended. How is this happening? We can thank Intel for this, the solutions they have created with the new technology into the CPU or chipset has made this possible, Biostar is fortunate to be leading partner of Intel that can build Mini ITX form factor products for customers all around the world,” said, Chen of Biostar.
“Definitely, SFF (Small Form Factor) PCs are seeing growth especially with the emerging buying medium which is online. There is a huge growing demand for a Plugable PC where the Mini ITX form factor based motherboards play a major role. We do sell over 30% of processors in India on our APU range of products which support the Mini ITX form factor. Our APU range is a combined power house for both Compute & Graphic needs of consumers. This segment is expected to see more penetration into the first time PC buyer markets & that would be T3/T4 cities,” agreed, Srinivas of AMD India.
“Not really! HTPC is a niche market and thus the demand for ITX boards shall have a direct connect ratio with this market segment. Micro ATX shall be the main performer as it is able to cater to a wider range of processors, power supply and market demand,” concluded, Das of Kobian.
Approaches for implementing energy efficiency
According to Srinivas of AMD, This year for AMD has been majorly about taking energy efficiency to another level and we have already developed a number of technologies to optimize voltage like the latest APU Carrizo which is the world’s most energy efficient and high performance APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). Our APUs are the ideal answer for the increasing demand of energy efficient PCs & our motherboard vendors are ready & are equipped for the same.
“The motherboard is only as good as it is software, which is the BIOS and once again, Asus has been the number one in this domain. We were the first to introduce a digital power system called DIGI+ VRM, which is the most efficient way of handling power. We also introduced 5-Way Optimization with our Z97 series and all our motherboards feature that technology today. This gives the user complete control on how power is handled and delivered as motherboard will dynamically optimize the efficiency based on what activity is being performed,” said, Shetty of ASUS.
“Motherboards have been the first to go the ‘Green way’ by going ROHS and reducing the carbon footprints. Mercury boards are also designed on similar Green lines,” said, Das of Kobian.
“Our ECO Series motherboard just fits this category. It comes with excellent power saving capabilities therefore is environmental-friendly,” said, Sherap of MSI.
“We have provided world’s exclusive 100% solid caps for all ECS motherboards. ECS Durathon2 motherboards use highest grade solid capacitors to ensure our motherboards last longer and outperform any competitions which have 6X Longer lifespan, equivalent series resistance and temperature stability,” said, Bhatt of ECS.
“GIGABYTE has been one of the earliest adopters of ‘energy saving’ as well as ‘green computing’ initiatives in the global IT industry. All our motherboards, both high-end and entry-level models, come with unique technologies and features designed and proven to decrease power consumption, electrical waste and carbon footprint; improve energy efficiencies; and rationalize system temperature,” said, Grewal of Gigabyte.
“Much of the energy efficiency is already designed by the main chipset makers. In way, all motherboards with similar specifications will use similar amounts of energy,” said, Chen of Biostar.
“ASRock is tightly focused on developing eco-friendly motherboard products in recent years. We tried to implement power-saving components to increase energy efficiency. Such as the newly-released N3150DC-ITX, Q1900DC-ITX and AM1H-ITX mainboards are both equipped with a DC power input connector. The boards can be powered by DC adapter instead of traditional PSU, thus allowing the system to reduce power consumption by a maximum of 50% when in idle mode. The key differentiator here is the power-saving DC-In specification,” concluded, Kriplani of ASRock.
Vendor’s attentions towards gaming market
“ As many motherboard players have started paying their attention to the gaming market, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), as a major motherboard vendor, is also set to expand its gaming business with a new product 100 series motherboard and with its Durathon 2 certification system to guarantee its product quality, the company is eyeing for a better shipment performance in 2015. Meanwhile, we provide the Durathon 2 certification system that is far stricter than the average of the motherboard industry. We use better materials for our motherboards and going through strict tests such as temperature experiment, running from minus 10 to plus 50 degree Celsius, higher than the industry’s standard range between minus 5 to plus 45, to ensure our customers to receive products with quality higher than the standard. Before shipments, our motherboards need to pass more than 1500 tests including compatibility, functionality, temperature and system boot checks. Through these tests, we are also trying to let customers understand that a trustworthy motherboard needs to be at least able to pass through these examinations before handing over to them,” said, Bhatt of ECS.
“The capacitors we used on our motherboards are also higher in grade compared to the market standard. All these demands are aiming to provide our customers products with values surpassing their paid prices. In the future, we will continue to run the Durathon 2 certification and expand tests to ensure our product quality to remain the highest,” Bhatt added further.
“It’s a very positive and encouraging trend for technology brands like ours. Gaming segment has been the driving force of PC and motherboard industry for many years in the West whereas in India the motherboards and PC requirements have been mostly linked with the desktop computing. Rise in gaming encourages higher end PC peripherals like motherboards, chassis, SMPS and even peripherals like keyboards, mouse and headsets. So it’s helping the growth and a new era for desktop PC and peripherals,” opined, Das of Kobian.
According to Shetty of ASUS, “Thanks to smart phones, gaming is more popular than ever these days. However, if you want to get the best gaming experience, there’s no better platform than the PC. To drive these graphically intensive games, also requires good hardware, which is where our Republic of Gamers brand comes in. We currently have graphics cards, motherboards, monitors and mice designed specifically with gamers in mind.”
“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,” said, Grewal of Gigabyte.
“Some of my friends are gamers, so I can say for a fact that gaming is just getting bigger, better, and more fun. Software developers are continuously developing games and apps to push the boundaries of the hardware technology that can be used for gaming. People at home, internet café’s , colleges, LAN parties, sponsored events, or at office. That is right, at the office; gaming is also a huge business and a very big market. E-sports is a growing popularity, companies designing games, they will need gaming systems. Because of the importance of the gaming industry, Biostar will continue to make gaming related motherboards for the India market,” said, Chen of Biostar.
“The awareness around gaming in India has seen a tremendous boost in the last few years and is increasing further at a steady pace. There are many enthusiast gamers/consultants volunteering to grow this segment, as a result you see many gaming events both online, offline being conducted very often. Gaming has been our key focus in India for quite some time now. For AMD, Radeon is Gaming and our incredible innovations in graphics and sound processing – based on our revolutionary APU technology — bring games to life. We have dedicated technology to empower the community with our deeply immersive experiences, blindingly fast performance, and explosive sound and eye-dazzling graphics at each and every step of gaming as a phenomenon,” concluded, Srinivas of AMD India.
Differentiating Factors of a Brand
“GIGABYTE motherboards have many differentiating factors compared to other motherboards. For example, we have the GIGABYTE DualBIOS, a GIGABYTE-exclusive technology that protects the BIOS. GIGABYTE DualBIOS means that your motherboard has both a ‘Main BIOS’ and a ‘Backup BIOS’, making users protected from BIOS failure due to virus attack, hardware malfunction, improper OC settings or even power failure during the update process. Another example is the presence of one fuse per USB port. With the 9 series motherboards, we have completely redesigned the heat sink components to ensure power efficiency. In the recently launched GIGABYTE 100 series motherboards based on the IntelZ170 chipset with support for Intel’s new 6th Gen. Core processor, we have announced the World’s First USB 3.1 with Intel Controller. With twice the bandwidth compared to its previous generation and backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 as well as 3.0, selected 100 series boards provide dual connectivity via USB Standard-A and the innovative USB Type-C making GIGABYTE the best USB 3.1 solution on the market with better compatibility over a wider range of devices. The Intel USB 3.1 controller, the industry’s fastest USB controller, utilizes 4PCIe Gen.3 lanes to offer a total bandwidth of 32 GB/s, for uncompromised transfer speed of up to 10 GB/s. 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. As part of the GIGABYTE 9 Series Overclocking (OC) series, we have launched three models – GA-Z97X-SOC, Z97X-SOC FORCE and GA-Z97X-SOC Force LN2. These come with a unique feature named GIGABYTE OC Touch that includes a range of hardware OC buttons directly on the motherboard, making overclocking on the fly extremely fast and easy,” claimed, Grewal of Gigabyte.
“Innovation is definitely the key to lead in the market. Unlike other motherboards, which may seem lifeless and boring with cold hard specifications or marketing gimmicks? We strive to differentiate ASRock motherboards by making them more customized. We’re going deeper into three different routes. The Gaming series will accompany hardcore gamers in endless battles, while the Overclocking series will assist overclockers break world records, and the Extreme series will satisfy the tech savvy. We will also provide a wider selection in price and features, so that everyone can find his/her own motherboard,” said, Kriplani of ASRock.
“We constantly strive to innovate and give users the best possible technologies that are possible. 5-Way Optimization, USB BIOS Flashback, Crystal Sound three are just some of the innovative technologies which can only be found on an Asus mobo,” said, Shetty of ASUS.
“Mercury and Motherboards are synonymous in India .Mercury Motherboards cater to probably one of the largest group on consumers from the value segment of G41/G31 chipset boards to the top of the line H81 series Motherboards. Mercury boards come with up to three year’s local warranty and with a low cost of ownership to the end customer,” said, Das of Kobian.
“MSI’s overall strength from top to bottom Mobo line-up is its innovation and quality, completely designed by its engineers and produced in its state of art production plant. Each segment of the motherboard addresses needs of different pool of users. The Overclocking series is designed for enthusiasts who pursue extreme performance and go after world records. Aimed at fulfilling the needs and expectations toward professional gaming, the MSI GAMING Series receives gamers’ unanimous acclaim. Incorporating Mililitary Class Components, the Classic Series has an excellent reputation for quality & durability and ECO series, through PCB & Software design, resulting in minimum consumption of power. All these distinctive products have made MSI a forerunner in the Industry,” said, Sherap of MSI.
“We designed the LEET series to let gamers know that the products within the series are designed specifically for them and we are designing and adding functions and technologies that they want through the series. The launch of the LEET will be a brand new start for ECS and we are very excited about the strategy. The product series’ name LEET comes from the word elite, a favorite word used among gamers. If you see the logo designed for the series, it represents a fist, showing gamers are ready for competition and its golden color represents ECS’ high-end Golden series product lines. Meanwhile, Durathon 2’s idea comes from two words: Durability and Marathon, we designed the certification system hoping our motherboards’ durability and stability can be similar to running Marathon – long and tough – and through the system, we can also show customers our advantages over product quality,” said, Bhatt of ECS.
“Biostar is best known for best bang for the buck. Biostar has been in the motherboard industry since 1986. Our engineers have over 20 years of experience on how to develop motherboards with the best price per performance factor. We find ways budget saving of a particular reference design product the implment of performance that is the Biostar motherboard difference. We are proud of the most competitive brands in the motherboard manufacture in this industry, claimed, Chen of Biostar.
At Last
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.
Mr. Srinivas M, Country Manager – Channel Sales & Distribution, AMD India
“This year for AMD has been majorly about taking energy efficiency to another level and we have already developed a number of technologies to optimize voltage like the latest APU Carrizo which is the world’s most energy efficient and high performance APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). Our APUs is the ideal answer for the increasing demands of energy efficient PCs & our motherboard vendors are ready & are equipped for the same.”
Mr. Sunil Grewal, Director, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt Ltd
“Motherboard vendors are pushing to the market products that deliver extremely high bandwidths, which are required by the most demanding gamers or graphics intensive creation tasks, such as video editing. Also, the next generation CPUs delivers greater performance and energy efficiency as well as very high level of discrete graphics performance. These satiate the needs of gamers who are looking for cutting edge graphics and audio performance.”
Mr. Manoj Kriplani | International Sales Division, ASRock
“Innovation is definitely the key to lead in the market. Unlike other motherboards, which may seem lifeless and boring with cold hard specifications or marketing gimmicks? We strive to differentiate ASRock motherboards by making them more customized. We’re going deeper into three different routes. The Gaming series will accompany hardcore gamers in endless battles, while the Overclocking series will assist overclockersbreak world records, and the Extreme series will satisfy the tech savvy. We will also provide a wider selection in price and features, so that everyone can find his/her own motherboard.”
Mr. Vinay Shetty, Country Head, Asus Open Platform Group
“Thanks to smartphones, gaming is more popular than ever these days. However, if you want to get the best gaming experience, there’s no better platform than the PC. In order to drive these graphically intensive games, also requires good hardware, which is where our Republic of Gamers brand comes in. We currently have graphics cards, motherboards, monitors and mice designed specifically with gamers in mind.”
Ms. Sushmita Das, VP-Business, Kobian
“It’s a very positive and encouraging trend for technology brands like ours. Gaming segment has been the driving force of PC and Motherboard industry for many years in the West whereas in India the Motherboards and PC requirements have been mostly linked with the desktop computing. Rise in Gaming arena encourages higher end PC peripherals like Motherboards, Chassis, SMPS and even peripherals like Keyboards, mouse and headsets. So it is helping the growth and a new era for Desktop PC and peripherals.”
Mr. Frank Sherap, APAC Sales Dept., Channel Sales, MSI
“In the last two years, we are seeing a significant growth in the performance & higher end segment of our motherboards. Thanks to the overall growth in the Economy (especially increase in the purchasing power of younger generation) and Easy Access of Information on internet is setting the new trend. Also as elsewhere in the world, the acceptance of Social media &etailers (FB, Twitter, Flipkart…etc.) as a marketing & communication tool is making a big difference. With faster and consistent internet availability and the culture of PC used as entertainment, Gaming, LAN parties, the potential for the demand of higher-end performance segment motherboard & graphic cards is huge.”
Mr. Rajshekhar Bhatt, Country Manager, ECS
“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. Mini-ITX systems are gradually becoming popular in India, especially among those who seek an HTPC build or have limited space for their rig.”
Mr. Jesse Chen, Account Manager, India market, Biostar
“India’s demand for high performance motherboards is currently low, but it is a growing and we want to see this grow because we know high performance products also provide better user experience. We will to continue to educate the customers the full potential of what high end motherboards can do, they are more expensive then a everyday motherboard, but they are also needed for the demanding users who need it for gaming, video/photo editing, musicians, or just need speed. “
