Call centers drive sales of LCD monitors

The market seems to be warming up to the idea of LCD monitors. During this

year, the sale of LCD monitors far exceeded set targets with the sale of 30,000

units against 7,000 last year. At this rate, vendors even expect sales to touch

one lakh units by the end of next financial year.

Most vendors tentatively launched LCD monitors from the middle of last year

positioning the product as a niche item. But being high-priced, vendors knew

they had to bide their time before Indian customers took to the LCD monitor.

But

an unexpected boon opened the door for LCD vendors in the form of the rising

ITES industry. With increasing capacity being added each month and with call

centers competing with the best destinations in the world, the infrastructure

also had to be world class. Another reason for increased LCD buying by call

centers is because VCs who fund these enterprises want the working environment

to match international standards.

Amit Gupta, Product Manager for Sony LCD monitors, Rashi Peripherals feels

that LCD monitors are particularly useful in a call center scenario because they

are soft on the eyes. A secondary benefit, which these centers tend to derive

from LCD purchases is that being slim, LCDs help corporates save on office

space.

Rashi Peripherals has executed a couple of orders to call canters and is

upbeat about the prospects in that sector. This enthusiasm is shared by Pankaj

Sharma, Head, IT and Channel Sales, Sharp Corp. "Call center is a growing

opportunity for LCD vendors and we have started focusing our energies on

this," says he. He informs that Sharp is interacting with a number of

potential clients in the segment and expects some results soon.

LCD monitor sales are also being boosted by customer-savvy organizations like

banks, financial institutions, hospitality sector, healthcare and telecom

companies. "Service industry which need to have a customer interface are

buying LCD monitors for aesthetic reason," says R Manikandan, Deputy GM,

Sales and Marketing, IT products at LG Electronics, India.

Most vendors expect a dramatic increase in the sale of LCD monitors from next

year onwards with prices declining at the rate of five percent every month.

Vendors expect substantial sales to pick up when the prices touch Rs 20,000.

However it will become a mass market product only when it touch the Rs 10,000

price point. Presently the LCD monitors are selling at an average price point of

Rs 25,000.

BALAKA BARUAH AGGARWAL