Digital media players has been one of the hottest new segments in the Indian IT channel in the recent past. The device enables users to take digital-media content from their PCs and play it on their televisions. It has shifted entertainment from one’s PC to the living room and is an emerging segment in consumer electronics industry today that is showing a promise of strong growth and demand. Internet penetration and increase in accessibility of digital contenttogether with hassle-free connectivity for transferring files, photos and watching movies, videos has made digital media players one of the favorite consumer electronics goods. It’s ease of use for consumers who are not familiar with operating conventional PCs has further lead to its demand as the perfect entertainment device to complement home theatre set ups and living room entertainment gadgets.

Commenting on the present scenario, Mr. Vinay Shetty – Country Head, Component Business, ASUS (India) said, “The media players segment is expected to grow around 50% by the end of this year. We have so far received very positive feedback from the market and the channel with strong traction from metros and major cities. It is still an emerging segment and partners are also very happy with the business and demand generated in the recent past. Currently we can peg out our market position at 29% of the TAM. We are expecting to further capture the market and achieve 50% of the market share in the next two years.”

Apart from establishing itself as the No.1 motherboard maker, Asus entered the media player segment towards the middle of 2009 with one of the first media players to be launched in India. TheAsus’ O!Play HDP-R1 launched around middle of 2009 received rave reviews from the media and customers and was in great demand. Asus followed up the success of the O!Play HDP-R1 with the O!Play Air which supports wi-fi and was also the first HD media player with dedicated music shuffle button which randomly plays stored digital music files. Asus then launched O!Play HD2 with USB 3.0 for high definition entertainment with high speed which also has provision to fit a flexible 3.5” HDD storage.  The recently introduced O!PlayMini  is also receiving good response from the media andcustomers. Its glossy finish and mere 175g weight, makes it perfect for sharing entertainment with family and friends.

Asus is now all set to launch its new media player, the O!Play Gallery with more advanced features in the coming weeks.