Indians are embracing other smart devices more, not just phones

• TWS and smart STB are two categories that have seen huge uptake in last three months.
• Smartphone continues to be the hub of being ‘smart’ and the first such device to be owned by any users.

Bengaluru: Indians are quickly moving beyond smartphones and leveraging the benefits of connectivity, smartness and intelligence of these devices to elevate the overall experience of living.

According to a report by techARC, even though smartphone continues to be the hub of being ‘smart’ and the first such device to be owned by any users who is on the journey of getting smart, users possess other smart devices as they are becoming available to them.

“The journey beyond smartphones has already begun and the future is equally promising. Although the journey had already started long back with tablet PCs, smartwatches, IP surveillance cameras and others, it has swung up since the launch of smart TVs, streaming devices, smart speakers among others,” Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst at techARC, said. 

Since 2019 beginning, he said the journey has been really “impressive”.

In the last three months, he said that TWS (True Wireless Stereo) and smart STB (Set-Top Box) are two categories that have seen huge uptake within smart service categories.

“Among other factors like availability of affordable high-speed data services, enablement of online sales, etc., users are driving towards connected devices to derive enhanced experience which is offered by these use case-specific devices than a generic device solving several use cases like a smartphone,” he said. 

However, he said the typical journey involves users getting exposed to it through a smartphone and then buying specific smart devices to enhance the experience as well as derive value-addition. 

Enhanced experience

For instance, he said that users are primarily getting exposed to OTT entertainment content over smartphones, which is then pushing the sales of smart TVs to get an enhanced experience.

Though users still strongly believe that brand plays a vital role in delivering the experience, however, he said that among the technical reasons, the role of a processor is seen as the No. 1 reason in impacting the experience.

Google, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Corning are among other major smart component manufacturers that have already launched their respective products and making it possible for OEMs to create a portfolio around connected/smart devices. 

Google has developed form-factor specific versions of Android OS and Corning is also offering display glass for various Smart devices.

Among the chipset manufacturers, MediaTek has taken a lead in terms of adoption of its chipset solution by various OEMs across several devices including TVs, smart speakers, STBs, TWS among others. 

However, Qualcomm’s chipset has not yet gone primarily beyond Smartphones and TWS. 

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