Dubai:
Indian technology company Simmtronics, acknowledged as the third biggest tablet manufacturer after Apple and Samsung in volume terms, expects its business to grow more than 100 per cent this year in the Middle East.
“We expect a 46 per cent increase in global revenues to $170 million this year compared to $120 million last year. In the Middle East we see more than 127 per cent growth to $75 million compared to $33 million last year,” Indrajit Sabharwal, Managing Director of Simmtronics, told Gulf News.
Simmtronics is also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to some of the top names in the tablet industry in India and in the UAE.
The company currently sells 200,000 tablets per month globally and expects to sell around 240,000 by December, out of which 140,000 comes from the Indian market.
According to Indian Customs and Excise record, the company is ranked as number one in India in terms of volume.
“We are selling around 30,000 units per month in the UAE after a tie-up with Jumbo as an exclusive partner for the past two months. We hope to sell around 40,000-50,000 by December,” Sabharwal said.
During the Gitex show, the company launched two 7.85-inch XPad models and two smartphones.
“Every person is going to have a tablet and all the verticals are moving to tablets. We have just signed a major deal with a shipping industry in Singapore and education sector is a big segment for us,” Sabharwal said.
He said many brands get their tablets from OEM vendors in China. But according to industry reports the rejection rate is close to 15 per cent. Rejection rate is known as tablets which do not work when taken out of the box.
“Consolidation is sure to happen in the tablet industry. At one time, there were more than 40 players in the Indian market, and right now there are only around five players. In the region also, we are expecting to see a consolidation,” he said.
“We are slowly exiting the OEM business as we are not able to keep up with the demand for our own brand and killing our own market share. We don’t want other brands to grow,” he said.
After getting a sizeable market share, the company has ventured into the smartphone business despite stiff competition.
It is competitive, he said, and added that it does not make much of a difference between a tablet and a smartphone as we are a manufacturer. Both have similar parts and technology.
We have three plants in India and one plant in Singapore. All our products are 100 per cent made in India.
He said the prices at which Simmtronics offers its smartphones — Dh399 and Dh599 — cannot be matched by anyone in the industry.
