Rajeev Singh, Country Head & GM, BenQ India talks about the role of Projectors in enhancing teaching-learning outcomes

Rajeev Singh
Country Head & GM, BenQ India

Please give an overview of projector for education market in India?  What part of your projector business comes from education?

Technology adaptation in India is happening at a very rapid pace, BenQ is leading the charge with its futuristic technologies and products customized for the Indian market. Projectors are used in India in a big way in the education sector for schools & professional institute. Our education system is evolving with digitization of content which makes it simpler for students to learn new things with high level of retention.   In the education industry the trend started with SVGA projectors. However due to advances in Short throw technology and our constant promotion of the same, the trend has now started to favour Short Throw projectors due to inherent advantages in a classroom environment.

The projector market in India is growing at an annual rate of 75 percent over the last three years. Our market share under the projector category business in India is more that 20 percent, we have more than more than 35 percent market share in education segment and are clear leaders. Education is contributing to 50percent of our total projector business, hence is the most important vertical. In the year 2011 we installed projectors in more than 20000 class rooms which in itself tells that BenQ has been the choice of educationists.

Please comment on the factors driving the Projector market in Education.

The market size for digital classrooms is likely to touch almost 1,00,000 classrooms with a phenomenal growth rate of more than 100 percent in the recent years. This trend is expected to continue for the next several years.  While private schools and colleges are going for a digital classroom concept for each of their classrooms, in government schools, trend is to make atleast one classroom digital. However, it will still take few years to reach a high level of adoption as sheer number of schools itself is very high, with government school number touching 15 lacs while private schools are almost 1 lac.

The way education is delivered and the importance it has in developing modern India is driving the changes in the educational set up. Also, globalisation is effective in bringing the latest teaching methodologies and tools to Indian market. The latest teaching delivery mechanism includes  the student having a networked computer at his disposal, fully networked classrooms, multimedia method of delivery and study content in soft form. The class rooms are becoming connected in real time and interactive in nature

What is the role of BenQ in this space?

BenQ is the worldwide leader in the education projector business. We have the largest product portfolio with more than 40 different types of projectors for Indian market for every requirement set in the education segment, be it short throw, interactive, auditorium or network.

We have pan- India sales and service team, working towards technology implementation in education, not simply as a seller but as a technology advisor and consultants to education institute. We regularly participate in various education forums and summits across India in order to reach for direct consumer interaction. We are also working closely with the government of India in its reforms and efforts in the education segment.

Financial barriers of educational institutes can be overcome through low-cost and adaptable solutions

What are the opportunities and challenges in the projector market, with specific reference to the education segment?

The education segment in India is among the fastest growing segments in the world with close to 15 lacs Government Schools and 1 lac private schools in India alone. Out of this, only 7-10 percent of the private schools have tapped the potential of multimedia classroom teaching whereas in government schools, the perspective figure is even low. In addition to this, there are colleges and higher educational institutes which together give us a huge educational market available for technology adoption. The Government has also extended support by earmarking a budget of close of USD 6 billion for technology adaptation in education in India.

However, the actual user’s understanding of the right projector technology for their application is still low. In government set-up specially, lack of efficient teacher training and irregular electricity further adds hurdles in technology embracing. Systematic training and orientation is required to fight the initial apprehensions of technology adoption.

What distinguishes you from your competitors?

BenQ is the global leader in DLP Projector market. We have the largest range of products in Indian market offering projection solution for any kind of requirement. Along with this, BenQ have a nationwide presence to sell and service its projectors.

With a large portion of our investment going in research & development, our focus is always in bringing in futuristic technologies to the consumers.  For example, BenQ’s new projector LW61ST with the revolutionary laser LED Hybrid lamp technology, 2000 ANSI Lumens, more than 20000 hrs of lamp life and over 90percent reduction in electricity costs offers the consumer an efficient, eco-friendly projection system.

Another one would be BenQ’s SmartEco projector range of more than 10 projectors, that is highly popular in the education industry as it is way more efficient than the traditional projector lamps, increasing the lamp life hours upto 6500+ hrs while lowering the electricity consumption by almost 60 percent, that too without any impact on image quality. This is BenQ’s proprietary technology, not available with any other manufacturer giving us an edge over the others.

Please share new innovative projectors tools that are available with your projectors for more effective student- teacher engagement.

BenQ’s interactive projectors features the latest PointDraw Pen 2.0 to support faster response time and remote interactivity up to 25 feet away from the board or projected surface, as well as the newly designed Q-Draw 2.0 interactive software which supports dual pen writing so one pen can be with teacher and one can be in the class giving a real boost to interactivity in the class.

Projector installation can be a hassle for some. How do you help administrators address these installation challenges?

We have nationwide presence through our partners. BenQ has experienced System Integrators who are capable of doing installation at large scale and deep in remote areas as well.   They all are equipped with all forms of support and service capabilities to cater well to our consumers.  We have several training programmes in place to train the service staff to overcome service & installation hassles at the ground level. In 2011 alone, we conducted around 50 personalized training programmes nationwide.

BenQ has been associated with Sarv Sikhsha Abhiyan for the more than 5 years now and enabled more than 15,000 class rooms in India, several of them in remote locations.
We have been able to sustain our leadership position in India with strong capabilities in the after sales service and reliable product design.