India set to witness boom in bluetooth sales: GN

Bangalore, Aug 12 (UNI) Witnessing an unprecedented boom in mobile telephony, India will also witness a spurt in the sale of bluetooth- enabled headsets with the demand reaching eight million units by 2011, Dutch headset maker GN said.

One of the leading headset sellers in Indian BPO segment under the brand 'Jabra,' GN had seen big growth for its headsets in the mobile telephone sector and enterprise segment.

Sensing the big opportunity, the company had put in a full-fledged sales office in India after its successful foray into the headset market in the contact centre segment in the country since 2005.

Speaking to UNI, Company Regional Managing Director (India and Middle East) Vincent Pena said the company would offer its headsets with some major mobile set manufacturers to cash in on the boom.

''We see a spurt in the sales of headsets in mobile segment and we want to take a prominent place after our success in the contact centre segment.

''We will also focus on the enterprise segment where the multi-use headsets will become a norm in India like in the US and Europe,'' he said.

Mr Pena said in the enterprise segment 'Jabra' multimedia headsets could be used on a variety of instruments like mobile phones, laptops, LAN and even music systems at home.

''When you travel in your car, you can hear the music using our ultra compact wireless headset or use it on your laptop. When you enter the office you will be hooked to the LAN and while walking, it will be connected to your bluetooth,'' he said.

According to a market survey, the Indian bluetooth headset market was expected to grow at a CAGR of 74 per cent as against 48 per cent in China.

''India is buying seven million mobile handsets now and we see big scope for growth in high-end handsets like bluetooth-enabled cell phones which form a small part of the demand now.

''This is where we can provide the state-of-the-art technology and are confident of competing with major players in the arena who are producing both handheld instruments and the headsets,'' he said.

Mr Pena said the company's sales in contact centre business would grow better than the market growth of 25 per cent in the country but it was not focussing on the mobile segment.

The IP telephony would be our key driver in the future as convergence would happen in the near future. This would further drive the market,'' he said.

UNI