"The Indian market has evolved a great deal over the past few years and technology trends in India are in line with global trends; the requirements of professional users in India are the same as any other region of the world." Vipin Pungalia, Business Group Head,Professional segment for Sennheiser India

On market trends

In the year 2010, our industry had a great recovery from the economic slowdown of 2009 and the industry is at a decent growth rate at the moment. The year saw great opportunities for companies in the form of the Commonwealth Games 2010.

Our company has grown at a decent rate and we are expecting to achieve better results in the coming year.

We are upbeat about the year 2011, keeping in mind the ever increasing opportunities of the Indian market, which fuel growth in broadcast market as well. Sennheiser's superior technology would definitely be the number one choice of professionals and rental companies in the coming year.

On factors driving the market

There are a number of factors which drive the market for microphones in India.

• Increase in the number of upcoming regional channels is providing growth opportunities.
• Broadcasters are making a shift toward HD production which has opened doors for innovation in this space.
• Among the artists, there is an ever increasing demand for instruments which provide an easier setup and hassle free control during concerts and events. The market is growing and there is more emphasis on the quality that is being offered by the manufacturing companies. Making high quality and features rich products is the need of the hour.

The professionals in this industry are looking for the best products and we at Sennheiser ensure that we are able to provide the most advanced products and the latest technology. Sennheiser has always considered India as a very important market and since we started our operations here, we have seen it growing at a great pace.

Sennheiser as a company will continue its commitment to provide the best of technology and the latest of products to its end users in India as well as everywhere else in the world.

On pending licenses

We cannot comment on when the licenses issue will be solved. However, these pending licenses will definitely provide great opportunities for the company to offer top quality products to the broadcasters.

On technology trends

The Indian market has evolved a great deal over the past few years and therefore, technology trends in India are in line with global trends; the requirements of professional users in India are the same as any other region of the world. Users are looking at more versatile microphones which not only meet their requirements for quality of output, but are also feature rich and small and compact in size. 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.

In terms of price as well, there is a stable environment with professionals concentrating more on quality.

On launch of new products

For broadcasters and live events we have a range of wireless microphone systems starting from high end 5000 Series/3000 Series, recently launched SKM 5200 II Series and Third Generation Evolution wireless G3. We also introduced the Earset microphones MKE series and SK 5212 II body transmitters which have a switching bandwidth of 184Mhz.

Similarly in wired segment we have the widely popular dynamic reporter mics, lapel Microphone and SKM & MKH series mics for broadcasters. We also have a range of wired instrument microphones for recordings and live performances.

Wired and wireless conference system, audio guide and tour guide systems are also available from Sennheiser and can be scaled to handle almost every application one can think of, be it a corporate conference room or a large scale tour guide system for a heritage site.

There are constant developments happening in the industry with latest innovations and offerings.

On percentage of wired and wireless microphone solutions offered by the company

We have a vast portfolio of products catering to different segments within each application. It is very difficult to share an exact percentage of split between wired and wireless microphone solutions. We have a balanced portfolio for both the segments which approximately would be a 50-50 split.

On marketing strategies for 2011

All our marketing strategies are focused on aligning our campaign to maximize our reach and offerings to Indian consumers.

On your product range

Sennheiser has the popular SMK 3000/5000 Series, which includes handheld transmitters with robust mechanics and a high frequency agility, elements like award winning design, capsules and the modularity were kept the same. The mechanics, electronics and the user interface were completely redesigned and adapted to the highest requirements of live events.

The SKM 5200-II is the next evolution of the SKM 5200 world class microphone. Robust, reliable and user-friendly, the professional hand-held transmitter is suitable for every conceivable type of recording and transmission situation. The mechanics, electronics and operating concept were designed to meet the highest requirements of live events.

The ew 500 G3, ew 100 G3 and ew 300 G3 Series are handheld transmitters with state-of-the-art features. Great vocals begin with great capsules, all 500 series vocal sets are equipped with capsules from Sennheiser's successful evolution 900 stage line. The evolution 900 series is stage proven and used by many acts on tour. Enjoy one-touch setup with the sync function. This system uses a dynamic cardioid microphone capsule based on the evolution e 935 which allows the vocals to cut-through the mix while remaining warm and full sounding.

It's all in the design. The hand-held transmitter of the 2000 series shows its strength: during use, in its performance, in its features. Sennheiser's technical know-how is shown through its switchable transmission power, intuitive menu navigation, an easy-to-read graphic display and external charging contacts for charging the optional rechargeable batteries directly. SKM 2000 is compatible with all ew capsules, including the MMK 965-1 true condenser capsule, whose wired version, e 965, has already proven to be a great success. Colors: nickel and black.

There have been many more successful and popular series of products in our portfolio, which can be browsed on our website.