Vipin Pungalia, Professional Segment Head, Sennheiser Electronics India Pvt. Ltd.

On market and technology trends

Technolgy has been evolving at a very fast pace and professionals have been looking for best solutions to answer changing dynamics of their business. The professionals have become more aware and look out for constant innovations in the various offerings from market leaders like Sennheiser. For microphones, users are looking for more versatile ones which exactly meet their requirements of superior quality and great compatibility. There has also been a great demand for smaller and compact size microphones that provide ease of use and greater accessibility.

In the field of wireless systems, a major requirement of customers is their demand for larger bandwidth to make the systems more flexible in an ever more congested frequency spectrum. Besides this, customers expect easy and intuitive set-up and operation.

While the price is always one of the important factors, we see a stable environment at this moment.

On key factors driving the market

The major factors that drive the market for microphones in India include quality, reliability, training, technical support, and ease of operation. High quality and reliability is the first factor that drives the market in India since the customer demands are raising on quality and features. To address this requirement, Sennheiser has over the years brought the best of products for its audience with most innovative technology and quality.

With digitization as a key trend in broadcast media as it transforms from standard definition to high definition, Sennheiser has invested in training professionals and resources to cope up with the ever changing requirements in the industry. Furthermore, Sennheiser provides end-to-end services from pre to post sales services for its professional audience, thus making it user friendly.

Ease of operation is another key factor that Sennheiser takes into account to meet customer demands diligently across regions and drives the market in India.

On sales trends

The company has continued to grow at a very good pace in Indian market over the past year. Our growth has been in alignment with the overall growth figures of the industry. Over the years, we have been able to build strong relationships in the industry and look forward to take them further in future while we bring in new members to our fold.

We are upbeat for the year 2012 keeping in mind with increasing opportunities in Indian market which fuel the growth in broadcast market as well. Sennheiser's superior technology would continue to be the number one choice of professionals and rental companies like before.

India has a great growth potential and talent, and as the world's leading manufacturer of sound and audio solutions provider we would continue to innovate as the industry still has a journey to make. Sennheiser would like to provide the best support to the professionals in India.

On major customers

Sennheiser offers solutions to industries across various business segments. Sennheiser offers sound solutions to broadcast, music industry, and Installed sound segments some of our major partners in Broadcast segment are Doordarshan, TV Today, Star TV, MMTV, Mathrubhumi, SRM TV, India TV, NDTV, TV18, and Zee TV.

On USP of your products

Sennheiser Electronics has offered products that have been a perfect blend of great engineering and unmatched design, thereby making it one of the most desired brands in the world.

The company is reinforcing its premium brand position in the Indian professional segment. The product portfolio of the company has always been customer-oriented, catering to the needs of the present generation customers, who are dynamic and open to advancement, the company believes in providing value in terms of their product offerings.

Over the past one year, Sennheiser introduced a number of innovative product in the Indian market, including MKH 8060, MKH 8070, KH 120, and MK 4.

MKH 8060 and MKH 8070 are new high-end shotguns or boom microphones with excellent reach off-axis sound. These are ideal for broadcast and sporting applications requiring natural sound at greater distances. Neumann KH 120 is a two way studio monitor displaying excellent sound and superior quality. MK 4 is studio condenser microphone with a large diaphragm.