/dqc/media/agency_attachments/3bO5lX4bneNNijz3HbB7.jpg)
Follow Us/dqc/media/post_banners/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/noc.png)
EduTech has helped the IT MSMEs and partners to recover from the lockdown ad slowdown. One might not believe that the IT fraternity which was almost in an ICU had recovered during the pandemic. With demand from all walks of the life to IT, the channel partners who were having various issues like online sale disparity, issues related to piracy, counterfeit products and more. However, COVID pandemic was a light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the shortages of supply, many channel partners had met their targets and even cleared their old stocks. Education sector is one reason for the industry to flourish back.
EduTech Market
The online education market in India is expected to grow by a staggering 50% during 2021-2025 to reach $5 billion by the financial year 2025. The global e-learning market size is projected to grow $370 billion by 2026, from $226 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.56% during 2021-2026.
The key indicators in the Indian EduTech market are expected to grow from 90 million individuals in FY20 to 133 million individuals by FY25.
Online education in India has witnessed an enhanced acceptance over a few years – but it’s the coronavirus pandemic which has heralded a boom for the industry. Online learning has become an integral part of schools, colleges and even in offices across India – with the advantage that such mode of education is easily scalable. The Indian government is also allowing the universities to offer fully online degrees – a change that could reshape the education industry in the country.
Mainstays of the Post-Pandemic Economy
With the online higher education market in India slated to grow 10 times over the next five years, EduTech has certainly emerged as one of the mainstays of the post-pandemic economy for investors and practitioners alike. India has the world’s largest population of about 500 million in the age bracket of 5-24 years, which provides a great opportunity for the education sector. The education sector in India was estimated at US$ 91.7 billion in FY18 and is expected to reach US$ 101.1 billion in FY19.
In India, the EduTech market is expected to reach US$ 4 billion by 2025, from US$ 750 million in 2020. Number of colleges in India reached 39,931 in FY19. As of May 17, 2021, number of universities in India reached 981. India had 37.4 million students enrolled in higher education in FY19. In FY20, Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education in India was 27.1%. ICAR is one of the largest national agricultural organisations in the world. It has 122 institutes and 67 agricultural universities across India, as of July 2021.
In 2020-21, there were 9,700 total AICTE approved institutes. Of the total, there were 4,100 undergraduate, 4,951 postgraduate and 4,514 diploma courses in AICTE approved institutes.
What do the Partners Think?
In our interactions with the IT partners and MSMEs, they expressed their views quite frankly.
"New age products like digital slates had more demand in the market. I personally found the entry level laptops and tablets found a new demand during this pandemic. During the year 2019, many schools and colleges were preffering to have smart class rooms in a way preparing the industry to get ready for to be tech-savvy. There was a considerable demand for the accessories like headphones, mikes and more."
--Alagappan S, Computer Waves, Chennai
"I see a huge surge in the demand for online classes after the pandemic. There is a huge demand for routers, cables and the sales were high during this point of time. We also analysed there was a sudden demand for INR 20 Thousand range laptops. Initially, consumers were happy with their mobile phones. However, when things started getting worse, they decided to move further with an affordable laptop segment. In the coming days, I anticipate, the sales will not be so high as it would take time to come back as a business."
--Sridhar R, Triangle Technologies, Bangalore
"Compared to last year, we are not witnessing not even 1/4th of the sales. During the peak of pandemic, the consumers were ready to grab whatever is available with them. Even if it is a display piece, they had no issues in taking it. Two factors had impacted the market- the online sales of accessories and the global shortages of IT products. I think we should have been prepared for the pandemic second wave."
--Sukesh TP, Emerge Digitech, Kochi
"I personally feel that IT industry was in ICU and COVID gave life to the IT channel community. I personally know many channel partners who discontinued the business had returned back to IT sales. To my knowledge, premium segments were happening more in the recent days. One reason was the manufacturers feel that the margins are thicker in the premium laptop segment while the affordable laptops might not possess that. Also, demand for laptops was only for entertainment and consumers were happy with them. However, now the situation is different. Despite work-from-home is happening, consumers want to own high-end laptops helping the channel partners to source premium laptops."
--Deepak B, SV Computers and Gadgets, Nellore
It appears that EduTech is going to grow in 2022 and is going to give further support to the IT hardware and other solutions that are used in EduTech. This is going to help the IT MSMEs and partners furher.
By B Swaminathan