In an exclusive interview with Arabian Reseller, Sunny Narain, the Managing Director of XFXForce Technology LLC, speaks about the regional gaming components market, the market segmentation between different types of gamers and the new XFX Experience Center
What sort of market size do we have in the MEA region for gaming components and related accessories?
The market overall is growing as the needs and wants of the gamers increases. Overall , with more options available, an end user is a lot more demanding and at the same time, companies are working on further innovation to fulfill such demand of the gamers. Let’s take our RX5700XT graphics card for example. We have the RAW II Fansink edition or the THIC II Fansink edition – both are dual fan with each one having its unique features.
Then we have the Ultra Series which is an overclock. For those, who need a lot more cooling power, there is the THICC III edition which is the Triple Fansink Edition. This really is for one specific SKU – the array of variety is enormous. Apart from components and accessories, today, furniture (gaming table and gaming chairs) is equally gaining a lot of traction. We have our gaming chairs for offer which comes in different size, quality, fabric or leather, series, colour, and so on. So the market size is growing allowing the overall products to grow as well and we need to be ready to cater to this demand and fulfill the requirements.
How according to you is the market segmented between casual gamers, hardcore gamers, and professional gamers?
Well, a professional gamer is probably around 10% from the lot for whom, gaming is probably not just a hobby, fun activity but a profession. These gamers know it all as they have a lot of practice , are updated with the news on a daily basis and have the exposure to gaming events, conferences, competitions, and so on. The hardcore gamer is perhaps would be the next biggest accounting for up to 40% of the gamers market.
These know exactly what they want as they have had the experience and are not purchasing hardware for the very first time. They are very specific with their demand as they want to enhance their gaming experience from their exisiting hardware. The casual gamers start off as a novice and eventually turn out to become professional and then go hardcore. We do see this segment to be growing at a rapid pace and probably accounts for 50% of the market segment. Many have approached us at the experience zone giving us a budget. They want a customized PC with optimized gaming experience and do seek advice on the benefits of the hardware.
What will the regional gaming market size and growth rate be like in 2021?
Gaming is growing at a rapid pace so we do see growth year on year for sure. Also, COVID has brought about growth in the overall home PC / home Gaming / Stay at Home market , with more students , people, professionals, spending more time at home, the demand for home entertainment has seen a rapid boost. We ourselves did see the demand for our graphics card go up to almost 30% during the peak of the lockdown.
What are the key factors driving the regional gaming market?
Technological innovation for sure, new Technology creates new demand. Upgrades in hardware – with 7nm chipset die size of graphics cards being launched along with GDDR6 based memory, gamers would like to get their hands on new technology . This year , we saw the launch of new graphics cards from XFX and AMD including the 5700XT which has been very well received. Games as well, as there are new titles being released, one would like to have their gaming gear up to date to fulfill the minimum requirements for optimized gaming experience.
What are the challenges to market growth?
I believe it’s the overall awareness. We need to reach out more to the general public and make them more aware of the key benefits of the upgrade the hardware may bring to them. Hence, in a way the Experience Center can help achieve this. We now need to reach out to more people and let them know this exists.
What sort of market opportunities and threats do you face as a components and accessories vendor in the regional gaming market?
The gaming market is growing so as a components and accessories vendor, we see the growth in itself as an opportunity for us. We seen new product launch this year which has been good. The RX5000 series launch by AMD has been very popular amongst gamers when building a system over 3000AED. Further, AMD has had a very attractive Game bundle option with the RX5000 series. The Raise the Game bundle program has GODFALL and WORLD OF WARCRAFT SHADOWLANDS OPTIONS depending on qualifying SKU. This attractive bundle offer opens up more opportunities for us as Gamers get more value for money as the Gaming titles are very attractive and brand new for a new technology graphics card purchase.
How is innovation driving the growth of the gaming market?
As mentioned above, it’s directly linked and as the age old saying goes – New Technology Creates New Demand. This sort of innovation is essential to keep the market growing. For instance, today’s graphics cards have GDDR6 vs. GDDR5 in the past, the new cards are 7nm vs 12nm in the past. It’s like you getting better and faster at a smaller size and competitive pricing.
What prompted XFX to launch its gaming/demo center?
Experience can be very subjective and we believe it will always be best if one can experience the technology live and first hand to get a feel of the performance, be comfortable, ask questions, learn further about the benefits and features and be completely satisfied before making the final purchase. We do believe that our XFX AMD Graphics cards are of very high standard and quality and we really want gamers to rxperience this themselves and then decide. Also, we notice , such demo center are rare and we wanted to provide an added service to merely just selling the hardware.
