Taiwanese tech company Asus has 8 ROG gaming café’s in India and the company is now looking to add 12 more in a bid to expand its offline retail presence.
These franchisee-operated café’s present in the metros like Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi allows gamers to personally experience the company’s gaming accessories and devices before making a purchase decision.
Though the Covid-19 outbreak had delayed the process a bit, Asus still wants to pursue this idea aggressively and plans to set up these new franchise outlets in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bengaluru by the second quarter of 2021.
ASUS India Business Head of Consumer and Gaming PC (System Business Group) Arnold Su accepted that while users prefer to make gaming-related purchases online, the offline mode helps the consumers “experience the devices and get an immersive experience” and on the other hand helps the company “reach new customers and helps build the gaming ecosystem in the country.”
While the PC gaming ecosystem in India is not as developed as the western countries, Asus is bullish about building the offline retail chain focused on promoting its gaming peripherals. According to Su, the gaming PC market in India has grown multi-fold over the last few years and from selling 40,000 units in 2016, the numbers of the first quarter of 2020 are expected to be around 100,000 units each quarter.
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The company has a keen focus on hybrid devices that can be used for gaming during leisure time and are equally useful while performing day to day office tasks. According to the company, this is the new normal for gaming devices. The company offers devices in three different categories ranging between starters or entry-level users to high-end serious gamers. These devices are Vivobook, TUF series and ROG series.
As of now, gaming PCs contribute to around 8 per cent of the total PC sales and this number is expected to reach 10-13% by the end of this year and is expected to grow up to 20-30% by 2022-23. Asus itself claims that the gaming segment accounts for over 20% of its total sales and wants it to increase to 40% by the end of next year.
Via: FinancialExpress