Frost & Sullivan: Tablets to Replace Traditional In-Flight Entertainment Devices
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) is a major part of an airline's marketing program and affects pricing of the seats along with the overall experience. It is the most cumbersome of the services provided by airlines during flight and needs regular and constant upgrade and maintenance.
According to Ravi Madavaram, Aerospace & Defense Consultant for Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific, a 5-star rated airline commonly upgrades the IFE every 4-5 years to provide the latest and best-in-class in-flight service.
"IFE also forms a major part of line maintenance during transit checks which maintain or upgrade the IFE system attached to the seats. Panasonic is the market leader in the IFE systems and has collaborations with most airlines," he said.
AirAsia is the first airline to introduce tablets as IFE in Southeast Asia and is also the first to provide it as an add-on package to their existing revenue line.
"This will trigger more low cost airlines as well as full service carriers to adopt tablets as IFE. The airline industry spends about US$1.2 billion a year for IFE maintenance. With the advent of tablets into this space, the dynamics of this segment will alter significantly in the next few years," said Ravi.
He continued, "Panasonic is the current market leader in this segment and Samsung has been relatively unknown. Given the advantages of tablets, it is expected that Samsung would gain significant market share rapidly in the near future."
With tablets replacing traditional IFE devices, the whole value chain will see a major change. This opens a new revenue stream in addition to food, insurance and seat allocation revenues for low cost carriers and one which is relatively easier to adopt. Hence, adoption is expected to be rapid. American Airlines, AirAsia have adopted the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 while Qantas has adopted iPads, provided by Panasonic.
"The dynamics of the industry will alter significantly with Samsung making major inroads into the market. The service providers, maintenance technologies and processes will alter according to changes in the industry," Ravi added.
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants.
Our "Growth Partnership" supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure.
- The Integrated Value Proposition provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation.
- The Partnership Infrastructureis entirely unique as it constructs the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices.
For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?
Contact Us: Start the discussion
Join Us: Join our community
Subscribe: Newsletter on "the next big thing"
Register: Gain access to visionary innovation
Media Contacts:
Carrie Low
Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific
D: +603-6204-5910
E: carrie.low@frost.com
Donna Jeremiah
Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific
P: +61 (02) 8247-8927
E: djeremiah@frost.com
Jessie Loh
Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific
P: +65-6890-0942
E: jessie.loh@frost.com
Share this article