Entertainment
Ranbir Kapoor to star in Philips entry into modular switches
New Delhi: The Indian arm of Dutch consumer and healthcare electronics giant Philips on Wednesday said that it is entering the Rs.1,900-crore modular switches market with actor Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador for its Rs.15-20 crore marketing campaign.
“The current market size of switches in India is assesed to be around Rs.3,500 crores and 55 percent of which is accounted for by modular switches,” Sumit Joshi, marketing head at Philips Lighting India, said.
“The modular switches market is growing at a compounded annual rate of 11.7 percent. Our aim is to drive higher brand recall and brand preference in this category,” he said, adding the company hoped to log double digit growth within two years.
“Although the products will also come with a 10-year warranty, we are trying to show that our products are more durable than the competition,” Joshi said. “We also expect Philips Lighting to turn into a growth engine for the company, thanks to modular switches.”
Explaining the brand strategy, the top Philips executive said:”We realised that for our company to establish a strong foothold in the modular switches category, it was imperative to make some disproportionate marketing investments and come up with a clutter-breaking communication.”
“The TVC (TV commercials) will powerfully connect with consumers and introduce them to unique propositions of Philips’ modular switches that spell durability, safety and elegance. At the same time, they will also reinforce Philips brand promise of ‘innovation and you’,” he added.
The company said actor Ranbir Kapoor was being roped in for the commercials under the marketing campaign. “In the television space, we are planning to spend around Rs.10-12 crore,” Joshi said. “We have renewed our contract with Ranbir for two more years.”
According to the company, the modular switches, which have dual shutter safety, are water resistant and are tested to 2 lakh clicks, are made with impact resistant plastic.
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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