BenQ’s Monitor Sales Have Strange Connection With Rising Memory Prices: Rajeev Singh, MD, BenQ India

BenQ currently has a number of monitors on sale in India that cater to a variety of customers. There's monitors with built-in calibrators supporting wide Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 coverage, and offering Pantone Validated accuracy. Those built for content creators engineered for video editors and YouTubers, combining cinema-standard colour coverage and USB-C connectivity. The brand's ZOWIE and MOBIUZ series offer displays with excellent motion clarity as well. And there are even models for programmers, Mac users that cater to the Apple ecosystem with Nano Gloss panels.

The company today opened its first exclusive monitor brand store at Mumbai's PC and electronics hub, Lamington Road. The store has a number of professional and gaming monitors on display and so, we had to ask… Why now? Why Mumbai? And why open a store just to showcase monitors? Thankfully, Rajeev Singh, Managing Director, BenQ India and South Asia was available and ready with answers.

“Mumbai is a very big market for us. And also in Mumbai, there is a well-known electronics hub like Lamington Road. In India, there are only a few markets where you have this kind of a large hub, which is similar to Delhi's Nehru Place.” Mr. Singh claimed that the brand wanted to set up a store at a place where people are already coming to buy specific hardware. This store won't cater to the casual PC buyer. BenQ is well aware and this is why it showcases all of the brand's high-end monitors at its store. “These are the monitors that people need to really see, touch, and feel. Our buyers who look to purchase such monitors will have questions. So automatically, a brand store like this becomes a good place to experience and get any doubts cleared before purchasing one.”

Center - Mr. Rajeev Singh, MD, BenQ India & South Asia, Left and right - Vinod Jain and Anil Jain, Proprietors, Nexus Infosys

Singh added that “the monitor market in India has really changed in the last 4 to 5 years. Several new segments have emerged compared to the low and mid-end hardware sold in the past. And these shifts are all due to specialised applications. When a buyer looks to buy a monitor today, they are looking for something very specific. It's no longer a general purpose purchase like before as they need a monitor to do specific things for them (coding, gaming, design). And BenQ has a variety of monitors specially designed for professionals and the gamer.”

BenQ also claims that the use case for monitors has also changed. From just being plugged into PCs, they can now be plugged into iPhones, iPads, gaming consoles and so on. “Pockets are growing bigger, spending capacity has also increased. But at the same time, the kind of work that people have for monitors has changed. That's why they are putting more money into buying these kinds of monitors. If that were not the case, they would not put so much money into such components.” said Singh. And so the idea of opening a physical store where its customers can experience the brand's monitors first hand, and then make an informed purchase makes perfect sense.

Rising memory prices don't directly affect monitors. “We are seeing a growth of over 30 percent in India, which according to me is proper growth.” said Singh. “When it comes to high-end PCs, yes, there it has impacted to a certain extent. But for those who have set aside a budget to upgrade this year, they will find better value in buying a monitor now because of the value and the price.”

The Managing Director, BenQ India and South Asia said that size-wise, it's currently seeing a trend where the market is shifting from 24 to 27 inches. “We believe that there is a market in India for these. And that's a big change. About 5 years ago, the largest size segment used to be 18.5 inches. From there, it shifted to 21, then to 24, and now to 27 inches. That's a lot of transition in a short period!” With work from home also now becoming common, buyers need a monitor that's good for work, gaming and possibly for entertainment. The price rise for monitors is still very less in comparison to memory or graphics cards, or even the other way around. So, right now we see customers spending on upgrading a monitor, and delaying their spending for other components.