BENQ Product Design Responds to Market

From L to R: Rajeev Singh, Jeffery Liang, Smita Rai and Anil Chopra

What stands out about BenQ, anchor exhibitors at AV-ICNx expo, is that product design is motivated in response to market needs. Analysing the market needs and fulfilling that need, is what has ensured that BenQ products are successful. Market integrity in product design and their ‘always can be better’ attitude has today made BenQ one of the leading brands in the AV Industry. Their booth at the recently concluded Infocomm expo in Mumbai attracted a lot of buzz and attention and AV-ICNx caught up with Jeffery Liang- President of BenQ APAC Region and Rajeev Singh- Managing Director, BenQ India, to learn more about product innovation and their drive to keep giving the market what it needs.

AV-ICNx: India is a different, special and tough market, which equates quality at the best price level. Did BenQ devise any special strategy to succeed in the Indian market?

RS:About almost a decade ago, maybe 2010-2011, India saw the use of projectors in education but it was still primarily used for higher education, wherein professors would use projectors to show PPTs or video presentations. The big opportunity however, was the school segment in India as no one was using projectors in the school segment. This was because school teachers did not make PPTs; they had a set curriculum and came prepared with lessons which they taught students using a textbook. Since, India has always been a powerhouse in software, we targeted all the education software companies in India. A lot of the companies were focusing on creating software in multimedia format for school curriculums to facilitate interactive and multimedia teaching. They needed a device to deliver the content in the classroom and we needed content to be used with the projectors. As the mode of learning for higher education and schools was completely different, they needed a different kind of content. We were the first ones to collaborate with these software companies and sell a complete solution, which included having their software, our projectors, interactive white board and a small PC because all this content had to be on some computing device. We started out this way and gradually developed a special projector for the Indian classroom environment. Since, even the private schools weren’t air- conditioned, temperatures could go up to as high as 50 degrees, plus there was also a lot of dust and electricity could get very unstable with frequent outages. Keeping all of these factors in mind, we tailor made a projector for India which was a short throw projector and was dust resistant. There was also a special provision for the lamp to not get damaged if there was a sudden electricity outage. Our projector along with the software was a complete solution and created a reliable and affordable experience in the classroom. This made us No.1 in the projector business in the Indian private education sector; our share is as high as 65% even now. Out of three classrooms in a school, at least two use BenQ projectors. This is a very unique to India; no other country in the world boasts of such a model.

AV-ICNx: BenQ is a very old name in the Indian market and seen as a serious and professional brand; are you satisfied with the projector sales In India?

JL: I always say this, there’s no best, it can always be better. Nevertheless, Rajeev Singh is doing a fantastic job for us. Even though we are selling projectors, which are much more expensive than so many other brands, we are still number one in the projector business, because of the brand reputation that BenQ has. Because of Rajeev and his leadership, in terms of projectors, BenQ India is definitely a role model for the entire global market.

AV-ICNx: Is the entire R&D and Manufacturing done in Taiwan? Or is some of it done in India too?

JL: So far, both R&D and manufacturing is still done in Taiwan, because there are certain economies of scale that need to be considered. The projector market is actually very complicated. You need a good place and stable labour skills and so far no brand has been able to manufacture projectors in India. The total volume of projectors is about 7.5 million a year worldwide, with India accounting only about 350K and that’s not enough to set a manufacturing unit in India and get a benefit out of it.

RS: And off this 350K, majority are data projectors and for data projectors there is no custom duty anyways, so if you manufacture anything locally, there is no advantage.

AV-ICNx: What are the new trends in display that we can look forward to?

RS:Today, the biggest trend in display is of course Interactive display. There are so many other things coming up with a whole lot of features as compared to normal interactive displays. Displays are becoming very segmented. There are different set of features for every use. Be it classroom, conference room or huddle room. The displays fulfil very specific set of uses and features. All of this results into a very immersive meeting environment since otherwise the retention of information during a meeting or a lecture is a big problem. The problem is that the retention rate or the take home information, is very low by the end of a meeting. People are constantly distracted by their phones, or their mind is elsewhere and this is where these new-age interactive displays play an important role of immersing and connecting with the audience so that their take home is much more. Also, all the data that is displayed can be directly sent to them through Wi-Fi or it can be emailed to them. There’s no need to take a picture or take notes. Every screen can be sent to them.

AV-ICNx: So with these interactive displays and collaborative displays, are all the connected people getting data of the entire thing in auto mode?

RS: They can, but only if they have permissions. All these devices have enterprise level security features in them. It’s not that anybody can connect to it, only if they have access then they can connect to it, otherwise you can either send it to them whenever you want or give them the access to connect to it. Also, for each person the level of access can be pre- defined with the help of an NFC card. So all the devices are very intelligent and most importantly they meet up with all the corporate security requirements.

AV-ICNx: So which is the next growth sector you are looking at in terms of displays and projectors?

RS: Our primary focus is Interactive Flat Panels as our next growth segment because as I mentioned earlier, in the beginning we sold only a part of the whole solution which was the projector; everything else was from other manufacturer, but, now, we have our own Interactive flat panel which contains everything in a single device except the software. So the hardware together with the software is a full solution. Therefore, we are focusing on the interactive panel in the education and corporate sector as well.

The corporate sector comes from a non-interactive usage background, but in this new digital era, the need for collaborative working has arisen in the conference room, for which you need interactive displays; the passive displays will not do the job. We have launched a new series for the corporate segment called Duo Board. It is AV over IP ready. It has two screens that you can use together and there is dual operating system. It is primarily for collaborative working and is very feature rich.

In terms of projectors, we have launched a smart projector. Up until now, all the projectors including our laser projectors were just pure hardware devices. There was no operating system or computing inside. Now we have come out with a smart projector for the corporate sector wherein you have an in-built android, which eliminates the need of connecting a laptop. All you need is a pen drive or a hard drive that you can directly connect to the projector. Since it is android, it has many apps that you might need in office for video conferencing needs. One can also either connect a keyboard and a mouse, wirelessly or connect it to the projector itself. This again, is a very different way of using projectors in the corporate environment as the projector has interactivity and you can do so many things around it.

JL: So as Rajeev mentioned, in the past we were only a part of the total solution, but when we started IP, the device itself is a total solution. Because of our R&D, sales and marketing team, we are getting stronger and stronger in both hardware and software. Our smart projector are not just passive displays, they have intelligence inside.

RS: We have also launched a 7000 lumens laser projector, which comes with a passive 3D support. 3D support is an add-on feature; otherwise it’s a fantastic high brightness projector by itself. 7000 lumens are good enough for a typical Indian sized theatre.

AV-ICNx: Will LED screens soon replace all the film projectors?

RS: Laser projectors will replace all the conventional projectors. LED cinema screens are very expensive. It is not going to change anything.

AV-ICNx: Has BenQ tied up with UFO or any other chain?

RS: No we have not. But, we will be tying up with one of the chains very soon.

AV-ICNx: Who is your main competitor for the smart projector?

JL: There is no one. We are the first ones to launch this kind of a projector.

AV-ICNx: What is the biggest challenge here?

JL: This is a new product, we are the pioneers and the challenge here is to educate the end- users and the public in general.

AV-ICNx: Is this projector competing with the smart displays?

RS: Yes, it is, but it’s more of a solution than a competition. For every price point or every feature there is a customer. And, the choices available need not replace each other; they can also complement each other.

AV-ICNx: How big is the hospitality sector for you?

RS: We have signages for the hospitality sector; however, for us our major focus is interactivity. Every brand has its own focus. Currently we have 30% market share of the Interactive flat panel market.

In displays, we are focusing more on unique solutions, like the one we have launched here. We have launched a new display, which is the world’s first Pantone certified display. This is the only display in the world that is certified by Pantone. Many corporates have this requirement because their logo has a certain Pantone shade, when you want to display the logo, the display should show the true colour, and this is the only display that ensures that. Wherever you have a colour critical application, is where you need this display.