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Mobile games and mobile esports enjoy the lion’s share of popularity and community engagement in a region like India and South Asia. While the PC market is slowly looking to catch up to its handheld rivals, many industry leaders believe that mobile gaming will have the upper hand for the foreseeable future.
In a conversation with Abhishek Mallick of Sportskeeda Esports, Arijeet Talapatra, CEO of TECNO Mobile India, opened up about the future of mobile gaming in the region and the company’s partnership with the Esports Premier League.
He also spoke about the impact that the now postponed 19th Asian Games will have on South Asia’s video game market as esports was finally added to the competition as a medal event.
Here is an excerpt of the exchange.
Arijeet Talapatra, CEO at TECNO Mobile India, on Indian mobile esports
Q. With mobile gaming witnessing a significant boom in the region over the last couple of years, how would you say smartphone manufacturing brands are looking at these emerging trends? Especially in terms of an R&D opportunity, is there now a focus on something other than just camera upgrades?
Arijeet Talapatra: In the last few years, the mobile gaming market has seen massive growth. The number of players has increased drastically, especially post-covid, and [the subsequent] physical limitations. The Indian gaming industry is estimated to be valued at $3.9 billion by 2025. The developments have heightened gamers’ expectations from the technology sector, and there is an increased demand for better and more powerful gaming devices with high-end processors, augmented speed, and longer battery life.
With the launch of POVA 3, we are focused on redefining the gaming experience for consumers. POVA 3 will be the first to offer an uninterrupted experience in gaming and content consumption by offering a 7000mAh battery with a 33 W fast charging, coupled with EMMC 5.1 storage technology for better read and write speeds and multi-tasking.
Additionally, the indigenous Panther Game Engine boosts technology, enhances the gaming interaction, and betters the visual experience in heavy-duty games like BGMI, Call of Duty, Free Fire, Battlegrounds, etcetera. This feature also prevents screen-tearing, ensures natural color reproduction, elevates the performance of the touch panel, and manages the resource allocation between the game and the chipset efficiently for preventing heating from long gameplay hours.
Q. What do you feel about the Indian mobile and esports market as it stands today? What would you say has been one of the biggest benefactors that supported its boom over the last couple of years?
Arijeet Talapatra: The mobile gaming market of India is estimated at $1.5 billion and is reported to be about 86% of the total gaming market, as quoted by Boston Consulting Group’s report. Powered by an advancement in the technology space, with newer offerings from the smartphone segment, the industry has witnessed a growth spurt.
Additionally, factors like availability of more games, localization of content to cater to regional players, deeper penetration of smartphones, and broadband infrastructure have also resulted in furthering the segment in India.
Q. Talk to us a bit about some of the initiatives that TECNO Mobile India is taking in helping esports grow in the region, and allowing smartphone gamers to have the best possible user experience.
Arijeet Talapatra: With the POVA product line, we are determined to provide Indian smartphone consumers with a trinity of speed, power, and performance that supplements the zillenials’ neverending hustle and further motivate them to ‘Stop at Nothing’.
Our association with ESPL is bringing us forward towards achieving the same goal. We are looking ahead to a valuable partnership to create a more exciting online gaming ecosystem. The POVA series brings to the customers industry-best features and provides a good combination of fast processors and excellent battery life as well as addresses the upgraded requirements of the customers and their expectations from a gaming smartphone.
As the gaming industry is seeing an emergence of new players every day, TECNO is continuously working towards offering technologically advanced products to consumers at disruptive pricing.
Q. TECNO Mobile was recently announced as the Presenting Sponsor of the second edition of the Esports Premier League. Tell us a bit about the partnership, the vision that went behind this venture, and the expectations that both parties have surrounding it.
Arijeet Talapatra: We aim to encourage amateur and aspiring gamers to pursue their passion for mobile gaming. Our collaboration with esports and gaming events will encourage sprouting talents to create a legacy in this field and take esports to the next level in India.
We believe that mobile gaming is truly here to stay and TECNO POVA promises to help the gaming enthusiasts of India achieve the best possible experience combining speed, power, and performance.
Q. How important do you feel the grassroots talent from non-metro cities is when it comes to helping the esports scene of a particular market grow? How is TECNO Mobile looking to tap into and leverage that resource?
Arijeet Talapatra: With the increasing internet penetration and variety of mobile phones being available in the market, the opportunity to tap the non-metro cities is increasing every day. Being the third-largest smartphone player in the sub-10k segment, we aim to reach the people living in non-metro cities by giving them an opportunity to experience the benefits of premium phones at disruptive rates. At TECNO, our focus is to offer innovative technology to consumers across segments and the length and breadth of the country.
Q. Talk to us about the importance of an affordable gaming smartphone, and how instrumental such accessible devices are in helping out the market.
Arijeet Talapatra:: Technology innovation for better localization is the core DNA of TECNO. The mobile gaming market of India is growing at a drastic rate and is expected to flourish. A concentrated number of the Indian population still resides in Tier 2 or 3 cities and don’t have access to surplus cash, which makes it important for the mobile industry to understand and cater to the needs of this section.
The gaming phones are selected by customers based on some of the key features, from the quality of the phone display and the power of the battery to the internal storage space you get, the RAM, chipset, and the operating system. Hence, it is important for brands to bring in technologically advanced gaming smartphones at disruptive pricing.
Q. With esports being included as a medal event in the now postponed 19th Asian Games, what kind of an impact do you feel the competition will have on the video games and esports market of a region like India and South Asia?
Arijeet Talapatra: Esports is going to be one of the official medal events at the upcoming 2022 Asian Games, which shows people’s perception has been transformed towards the genre. As esports is at a nascent stage in India, I believe with the extra time, the players will be able to better prepare for the international tournament.
As the number of video gamers is reaching three billion across the world, Asia-Pacific is home to over half of these gamers, making it an extremely important market for the smartphone segment. The need for the hour is rapid development in the esports infrastructure for supporting the Indian gamers.
Q. What’s next for TECNO Mobile? What can fans expect from the brand in the coming years?
Arijeet Talapatra: As a brand, we have a sharp focus on the Indian market from a long-term perspective, and TECNO India is committed to growing with the market. With the brand’s essence of ‘Stop at Nothing’, TECNO is committed to giving the masses access to the latest premium technology at accessible prices, allowing them to reach beyond their current limitations and uncover a whole new world of possibilities.
To empower and encourage more consumers to embrace self-expression through our smartphones, we are looking to further strengthen our product portfolio in the above 10K segment as well.
The journey so far has been significant as it has generated massive employment and a good level of transparency. In 2022, TECNO’s focus will continue to be ‘India First’, and we plan to disrupt the mid-to-high segment of smartphones. We want to customize products to cater to the Indian sensibilities in a better way so that we can meet the needs of the users across price points.
