Scanning the `X` terminals marketing in India; Hinditron Tektronix Instruments Ltd.

Abstract

Hindi Tron Tektronix Instruments Ltd. is entering the X-terminals market in India with the various models of the Tektronix, USA. It was imperative for HTI L to understand the X-terminal market, its potential now and in the near future. HTIL wanted to know the popularity of the X-applications and the X-terminals. It was required to understand the potential threat to the product in the market now. HTIL also wanted to know the buyers' behaviour as far as the X-terminals are concerned. On the other hand, the company was keen on finding out the perception and the prediction of the leading hardware vendors, product and its market. operating in India, regarding product and its market. The Directors, EDP Managers and System Specialists of fourty different Organisations (envisaged as the end Users) AND eight different Hardware Vendors were contacted to understand "the market. To get a varied and true view of the market the sample was covered from five different cities, Bombay, Delhi, Jamshedpur and Pune.

It was found that though the awareness namely Bangalore, level of the x-applications among the big corporate clients is reasonably high, the acceptance of the X-terminals as a device to run the X-applications is comparatively low. The acceptance is right now more among the Software Vendors and the Educational Institutes including the R&D organisations. The awareness and acceptance is relatively high in Bangalore and Delhi.

The main threat to the X-terminals is not the competitors' products. It is rather the substitute product like PC emulators and Diskless. Work stations that is going to take a larger share in the X application device market if the users are not made aware of the advantages of the X-terminals. The most dissatisfying factor about the X-terminals is their high prices. Users and the Hardware vendors feel that the prices are placed around fifty to sixty percent more than the acceptable price.

Users would be more interested in both the high end and the Low-end terminals. The Mid-range models of Tektronix may not get much of their usage in the Indian market.

As far as the buying behaviour is concerned though it has varied across different Industry Sector, in general the?? users give much weightage to the factors like Performance, Vendor Reputation, After Sales Service and Connectivity.

It is recommended that HT I L should go for an extensive promotional campaign along with other vendors educating the end users regarding the advantages of the X-terminals over the PC emulators and Diskless nodes. The immediate target market are the Software Vendors and the Educational Institutes including the R & o organisations. The potential future market is to be created in the Manufacturing sector. The finance sector is yet to pick up and needs education. The size of the x-terminal market is small now. Thus, the planning should be long term to capture the market with the competitive advantage of being a neutral party to all the Hardware Platforms, thus better compatibility. The price of the terminals right now may be listed at around thirty pe??cent less than the present listed price.