The online gaming industry has marked a remarkable growth in India in the last 10 years. Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and bandwidth availability, the gamers industry is evolving rapidly in the country. A joint study by Google and KPMG says that the gaming market in India is expected to grow to $1 billion by 2021. Considering the pace at which the gaming business growing, India is set to become the next big gaming hub in the world in the coming years. While the promising uptake in the gaming industry is not only a big boon for gaming developers, it is also fuelling the demand for gaming PC and components.
The Growth Factors
Though still at a nascent stage, the gaming business in India has gained a lot of traction in last one decade. Smartphones are the primary driver of this growth and also triggering the demand for PC and console gaming for a high-end gaming experience. The online gaming competitions have also given a major boost to the industry. As a result, there is a steady rise in the gaming cafes not only in metros but in Class C and D cities. Online gaming leagues and E-sport tournaments such as GeForce Cup, The ROG Masters, Indian eSports Championship (leSC), ESL India Premiership, Nazara Games eSports League etc. are very popular in the Gaming community.
Interestingly, the IT vendors are also backing up such online competitions and offering resources to develop the Gamers’ ecosystem in the country. For instance, graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA has reportedly tied up with about 50 gaming cafes across India to promote PC gaming. The company organizes e-sport tournament GeForce Cup with an aim to build a strong gaming community in the country. Like NVIDIA, other IT vendors are playing a significant role in order to grow the industry.
Availability of Gaming hardware at an affordable cost is majorly triggering the demand for high-end gaming PCs and laptops for overclocking performance. The increase in buying capacity of Indian parents and their openness towards gaming is facilitating the growth of new age gamers in the country.
Demand for gaming hardware
While global and Indian PC shipments continue to decline, Gaming PCs, which cost almost 100 percent more than the conventional desktops is witnessing a steady uplift. According to the e-Commerce platform, The IT Depot, the Gaming PC segment is growing at 25 percent – 30 percent YoY growth rate. The simple reason behind this uptake is the rising demand for high-end hardware and accessories for extreme gaming. Hence, prominent PC and Component makers have now shifted their focus on Gaming PCs and Gaming Components.
Dell has launched new Inspiron 7000 Gaming series, specially designed for extreme gaming. Similarly, ASUS has announced the next gen ROG G701 gaming laptop for high-end gaming. HP is also not behind in the race. The company recently announced the next version of their flagship gaming laptop series — the Omen X. While the demand for Gaming PC is moving in the upward direction, high-end Gaming accessories cannot be left behind. Logitech has introduced a couple of powerful Gaming accessories under G series for hardcore gamers. Similarly, Companies like Micron and ADATA have launched high-performance memory cards, which are essential for high-end Gaming.
Challenges v/s Opportunities
The Gaming industry has marked a very promising growth in India but the industry has yet to reach the maturity level as compared to the western countries. Though growing at a rapid pace, the industry is largely unorganized and witnessing a fractional growth. Similarly, a cost is the major factor which refrains Gamers from buying high-end Gaming PC. Though Gaming cafes are mushrooming in the country, it is still very less considering the growing number of Gamers. Also, there are different service parameters for different Gaming Components, hence, smartphone and net Gaming take out the larger chunk of share in the Gaming business. Considering the budget constraint, many Gamers prefer to buy DIY Gaming PCs but, due to lack of awareness and scarcity makers of DIY PCs, this segment is also largely unexplored in the country.
Despite these challenges, Rajesh Goenka, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Rashi Peripherals is very optimistic about the growth of the Gaming industry in India. The demand for Gaming Components have already shot up worldwide and he believes that the industry will see a double-digit growth in the next three years. The lucrative profit margins and ever-increasing demand for Gaming hardware are triggering the IT vendors to invest more into this segment. Also, many international players are now foraying in India with an intention to make this market their next growth destination. So, opportunities are huge for PC and Component players in the booming Gaming business.
Authored by Mr. Rajesh Goenka, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Rashi Peripherals
