Vijay Sharma, Country Head India, Optoma Corporation on year-end 2021, and the year ahead:
Prateek: How was the company’s performance in the year 2021?
Vijay Sharma: Overall, 2021 was a good year for the projector industry which witnessed a recovery path and some missed opportunities as well. After a bad year in 2020 when the industry saw a 60% drop in demand, 2021 began with positive trends in sales from home, corporate, government sectors. In the second quarter, Optoma registered encouraging growth as we doubled our market share in the overall projector market and became the number one projector brand in the 4K UHD segment in India owing to rising demand in the home segment, government initiatives, and opening in the education sector.
Prateek: Who would you like to thank for the wonderful year 2021?
Vijay Sharma: We would like to thank our channel partners who despite difficult market conditions stood strong with the company and ensured on-time deliveries to meet customer demand. I am also thankful to our customers who showcased their interest and faith in Optoma products which helped us achieve huge growth in 2021. In addition to this we are thankful to our employees who have worked at duty stations, from home, and other locations in the time of the COVID crisis and contributed to the company’s growth.
Prateek: What products were most liked by the customers last year?
Vijay Sharma: The Indian home entertainment and projector market is witnessing double-digit growth for the past couple of years. Now consumers are bringing entertainment larger than life-size to their homes, living rooms, bedrooms whether it is movies, events, sports, or shows. Quite a few homes have opted for a home projector over a TV, many are opting for a blended model – a home projector in the living room or den.
Prateek: What will be the company’s strategies for the forthcoming year?
Vijay Sharma: We shall be tapping the segment where our expertise lies. We have a stronghold on the home and Pro AV segment, so we would continue strengthening our product portfolio primarily for the home category with advanced tech projectors. In the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, we saw major demand coming from the home segment. Also the consumers in tier 2 and tier 3 cities invested in internet and OTT when they went to their home cities. So, now when they will return to the metro, I don’t think that this demand will decrease, instead, it will continue and shift as per demographic areas like from tier 2 to tier 3 to again back to metros. That’s why we would keep on coming up with new launches to attract customers. If we talk about installation series, again it is primarily high-end. It ranges from 6000 lumens and goes up to 22000 lumens. Within this segment also, the overall product up-gradation is happening. Optoma will keep on launching laser-based projection products to tap the category. Optoma is the No. 1 DLP Projector brand globally with core strengths in the Home and Pro AV segments. We want to extend the same strengths in the Indian market as well.
