Every product in the market, electronic or mechanical, wired or wireless is expected to deliver quality. Every company making these products works relentlessly to ensure this.
Testing and Measuring is an important and mandatory part of product development. Being a prime part of product development, the Test and Measurement space is growing between 12-15 percent in the Indian market. Every company in this space has developed a strategy to penetrate the market and be at the forefront of delivering the test and measurement products and services to cater to the needs of product development companies.
Frost & Sullivan research suggests that companies are consolidating through partnerships to provide the required products, services, and solutions in this space.
Growth Drivers
The teledensity in India has grown upto 78 per cent and the mobile connections have risen to close to 950 million subscribers There is also an accelerated drive from test and measurement vendors in this space to comply with the product and service quality. India has witnessed a CAGR of 35 per cent in the wireless space compared to wireline. This tremendous growth in the wireless sector is being attributed to the exponential increase in the mobile subscriber base.
Currently, the penetration of smart phones, mobile social networking, mobile banking, video streaming, and several other mobile applications have had a significant influence in the growth of the test and measurement space.
Also, these wireless data services propel the need for sophisticated applications and robust functionality in the testing process. The wireless market is extremely dynamic with new trends and technologies being introduced regularly, forcing test and measurement companies to keep up pace in servicing this sector. Also, test and measurement companies face a huge task of staying abreast of latest technologies to integrate futuristic functionalities into the existing test processes. In spite of challenges, there are many opportunities in the test and measurement space; hence companies in this space are finding ways to position themselves to further penetrate this market.
Some of the drivers in this market are given below:
4G Technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) are expected to be deployed during the second quarter of the 2012. Growing complexities in wireless technologies lead to greater need for test and measurement
Increasing volumes of mobile and smart phones
Wireless data uptake and traffic increase
Network upgrade and interoperability needs
Increase in research and development from the product perspective
Portability with superior efficiency increases the ease of use of testing instruments
Need for high-speed data transfer
Increasing demand from the Indian defense sector
Issues and challenges
Among the challenges that the test and measurement companies face are the pricing pressures that product companies throw at them. Product development companies do realise that testing is a very important component of the entire product development cycle.
In order to keep the development cost low, companies try to keep the testing costs very low. This is a big challenge for companies in the test and measurement space, as they spend large amounts to keep in line with futuristic technology trends to match the customers? needs. Also, some challenges other than the pricing pressure are:
High-end testing instruments are rented out in order to reduce capital expenditure
Low availability of alternative testing mechanisms
Less clarity in Government policies
Price-sensitive end users and low subscriber Average Revenue per User (ARPU)
Lack of a structured ecosystem
Future Trends
Global companies have set up their offices in India and are promoting the importance of Test and Measurement. Also, companies have taken initiatives to consolidate their offerings to provide comprehensive services and solutions. Multinational companies are major participants in the Test and Measurement market. Most increase their growth by expanding their product portfolio and delving in-depth in terms of quality into the market segment that they are already in.
Some local Indian companies are also successful in expanding their business as resellers, distributors, manufacturers, or partnering companies in specific market segments, although they are yet to create a strong brand reputation and recognition. Most market segments have high entry barriers due to the need for specialized design and development expertise, as well as the differentiation provided by proprietary technology.
The Indian market is very price-sensitive, and price is the first and foremost competitive factor.
The total Test and Measurement market is characterised by rapid technological changes; and the Indian market, in particular, is dynamic. Therefore, staying at the forefront of these technologies is critical to remain competitive in the market, and the key to success. Keeping pace with the tech-savvy younger generation and its desire for advanced features at reasonable prices is a major competitive factor that companies must tackle, while giving equal importance to testing and network security solutions.
Trends in Wireless in India
Due to accelerating growth in subscriber base and data traffic from video and other media-rich content, there is a rapid expansion of the mobile Internet, which requires service providers to be abreast of all the latest developments.
The deployment of LTE/4G technologies is likely to enhance network quality and optimise the structure of data usage. Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) is an important part of wireless communication standards such as IEEE 802.11n (Wi-Fi), 3GPP Long Term Evolution, 4G, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+).
These technology standards enable the service providers to deliver a comprehensive solution including the speed, service quality and variety of services. All upcoming 4G systems will also employ MIMO antenna technology. Smart phones, location-based services, mobile commerce and banking, and geographic navigation are all trendsetting technologies that require sophisticated chips, intricate logic, and advancement in application development. All these together make up a major technological revolution in the field of wireless equipment; hence provide an impetus in terms of opportunity to the test and measurement product and service providers
Between 2010 and 2017, the mobile device testing segment is expected to earn revenue of USD 600 million at a CAGR of 19.5 per cent. This is due to the expanded mobile device user base and the explosive technological progress in mobile devices and smart chip sets. As these advancements call for advanced testing mechanisms, mobile device testing is of prime importance. Wireless core and wireless backhaul have much scope for development during the forecast period, with the expected deployments of LTE-TD and the launch of FDD-LTE.
