Abhishek Anand, Country Sales Head, NETGEAR India
NETGEAR delivers intelligent solutions created to tap the full potential of connectivity for businesses, homes and service providers. In an interview with tele.net, Abhishek Anand, Country Sales Head, NETGEAR India, shared valuable insights on the company’s strategy, and focus on innovation, as well as market trends.
What are NETGEAR’s key focus areas in India?
NETGEAR serves businesses of all types and sizes. Our products in switching, wireless access points, routers and audio-
visual-over-internet protocol (AV-over-IP) are engineered to provide best-in-class performances with a strong focus on security, ease of use and reliability. We offer tailored solutions for customers that need end-to-end IT infrastructure, seamless connectivity and Wi-Fi solutions. We also offer power over ethernet+ (PoE+) and PoE++ options for anything and everything.
What were the key business and operational highlights during 2024-25?
It has been a very successful year for us. We launched our top-of-the-line series M4350, which is suitable for AV-over-IP, enterprise IT and broadcast (supporting SMPTE 2110) with a port speed of up to 100G. Our WiFi 7 access points, which can provide a throughput of up to 18.4 GBPS, are now live on our portal, and for India, it is still under approval. During the year, we also launched the free-to-use ENGAGE Controller for our AV line of switches, which helps solution partners manage NETGEAR AV switches from a central dashboard. We now offer POE switches supporting up to 3,315 W in a single switch.
Last but not least, for our AV partners, we have also launched certification programmes in the NETGEAR Academy, which is free to access. This gives the latest insights on AV-over-IP designs.
What are your views on the future of AV-over-IP?
The demand for IP-based audio/video solutions has increased significantly in the past three years. Most AV brands now generate more than 60 per cent of their revenues from IP-based products, and India is no different. The benefits that AV-over-IP brings compared to the conventional setup are immense – be it scalability, security, performance, flexibility, quality and not to forget, cost. It is bound to grow and witness increased adoption.
NETGEAR, being a market leader in AV-over-IP switching, is one of the most recommended switch brands by over 400 industry partners who have certified its switches for professional AV applications. With more than 30 years of IP expertise, we support AV-over-IP solutions right from the design stage to configuration, offering a portfolio of over 40 AV-over-
IP switches.
How have Wi-Fi technologies evolved in India? How has the adoption of Wi-Fi 6/7 been?
India has shown a strong appetite for the latest Wi-Fi technologies, with Wi-Fi 6 becoming mainstream. The rise in internet penetration, coupled with the growing need for seamless connectivity, smart classrooms and homes, digitalisation, cloud-managed networks and smart cities infrastructure, has led to the organic adoption of Wi-Fi 6. Designed to support a higher number of connected devices with improved performance, Wi-Fi 6 broke the gigabit barrier and delivers speeds nearly four times faster than W-Fi 5. The rapid adoption was also driven by the swift launch of Wi-Fi 6-enabled client devices.
Wi-Fi 7 is already creating a buzz in the market, and once it is approved, NETGEAR will be ready to introduce its range of products to Indian customers.
What are the key challenges before you in terms of the adoption of Wi-Fi 6/7?
The primary adoption barriers include the lack of awareness, device ecosystem limitations (end client devices), cost sensitivity, and the lack of spectrum and regulatory clarity and infrastructure readiness.
While we continue to raise awareness and ensure the best price-to-performance ratio, we aim to make our Wi-Fi 7 devices available in India as soon as possible. In the meantime, our full range of Wi-Fi 6 devices is already available across the region, with thousands of satisfied customers from large organisations and institutions.
What will NETGEAR’s growth strategy be for the next few years? What will be the key business priorities?
Our customers regard NETGEAR as a premium brand and expect nothing less than flawless, high-performance solutions. Therefore, we continually work towards improving our offerings. To ensure that every experience with NETGEAR exceeds expectations, our growth strategy for both IT and AV customers involves:
- Becoming trusted advisers for our
partners, right from designing to configuration - Expanding market reach and forming strategic channel partnerships with
the help of our distribution partners across India - Providing technical expertise by offering specialised skills for designing, deploying and managing complex
solutions, bridging the technology-customer gap - Tailoring offerings for education, healthcare, hospitality and government sectors
- Launching reliable, affordable and best-in-class products that incorporate the latest technology and user-
friendly features.
