The world is madly chasing the convergence dream. I believe however the future lies in breaking some of that convergence into basic products – tinker level. The market possibilities are endless in the emerging world. Think of a GPS device that just gives you location and not mp3 and other bells and whistles. Think of a Rs 400 mobile phone with only 2 buttons – receive a paging and send a SOS. The possibilities are endless.
Are any of you working on ideas like these, rather than Web 2.0 conveniences?
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Krish, Thanks for the response. Can you send me your email id/phone number? You can reach me at vvkrishna1@gmail.com
Jay, Coming to your success criteria:
1. Low capex device
Yes, the cost of the device is the biggest roadblock. Reliable devices from Taiwan cost over Rs.10K. If we procure from China it may come down to Rs.6K. I think if we can bring down the price of the service (with device) to around Rs.600/month range, then it’ll be an easy sell. However getting to such a price point seems very unlikely in the near future.
2. Operationally simple to use with low battery requirements
Actually this is not an issue. Current devices are extremely power efficient.
3. Tamper Proof ( has to be fix it once and forget about it )
Again the devices are quite tamper proof. Most of the devices come as black boxes so there is nothing you can do to it other then physically damaging it.
4. The customer should have a choice to either pay per request or a monthly unlimited requests
I dont understand this. Can you elaborate?
Reliance, Bharti had jumped onto the vehicle tracking bandwagon a couple of yrs back. They are nowhere to be seen now. I think the main reason is that the price is too expensive for the general market (transportation/ logistics companies).
Vamsi.
Hey Vamsi,
In case if you want any help in dealing with your potential clients in Mumbai / Maharashtra, just get in touch. I have some good connections that I can leverage for you.
The GPS on GSM /CDMA has always been in a pilot mode and very rarely moved to a state of mass deployment.
The intent and the reasons are all right but it has never really taken off.
Some reasons as i see it and I could be wrong
1. Cost of initial device. In GSM space expensive , Reliance did some experiment around a refurbished handset … worked at times but not entirely reliable
2. The major industry which can be a customer is a trucking industry and that is heavily unorganized and would be keener on getting their shipment from one place to the another and get something to take back as soon as possible
3. Most of the other segments as you rightly said and filled with cellphones so accessibility / security is never a concern
For the concept to succeed it has to be a combination of the following things
1. Low capex device
2. Operationally simple to use with low battery requirements
3. Tamper Proof ( has to be fix it once and forget about it )
4. The customer should have a choice to either pay per request or a monthly unlimited requests
Interesting, since I too was thinking on same lines. If you look at products like the iPod or even Google, the reason they became popular was their simplicity. Most products today have so many redundant features that users hardly use. Maybe thats what has prompted Nokia to release the N3109 –http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1127522 which is positioned as a phone that is meant “for consumers and companies who appreciate simplicity and value for money”.
Thanks for raising this topic (or rather changing the topic). I was getting numb on web2.0 🙂
One idea (its up and running) we have been working on is GPS/GSM enabled automated vehicle tracking. Here is the basic business model
1. The driver/customer gets a black box which he/she can install in the vehicle
2. The supervisor/ manager can do live tracking (a clever mashup on Google maps) of the vehicle(s) on a Cell phone/PDA or on the internet
3. The manager will also get detailed highly customized reports (per day, per vehicle, per trip, per hour) on the vehicle(s) with attributes such as a. Route violations, b. Over Speeding c. Unauthorized stops/ Missed stops d. Km traveled e. Av speed etc
4. Alerts (ETA, violations etc) can be sent by SMS, email
5. The customer pays a monthly subscription fee to get the above services and either buys the equipment or rents the equipment from us.
We are currently running a pilot at one of the AP Govt departments. The price at small volumes is around Rs.2000/month/vehicle (including equipment rental and service). We estimate that we can bring it below Rs.1000/vehicle/month for large orders.
The primary markets we can see are:
1. Govt services like Police, fire etc. Govt is the obvious choice. But the cost of dealing with Govt is quite high – bribes being the dominant issue. And you need to have “influence”.
2. Schools: We are trying to target up-market schools who have a large fleet of buses. A vehicle tracking system is an additional safety measure for children. We think this is perhaps the ideal market in the private sector – Rs.2000 spread over 40 kids is not much.
3. Taxi/Cab services: We thought that this would be a big market. But the price is just too high for them. And cell phones being ubiquitous (almost all drivers have them now) – they provide most of the benefits that we do (in terms of where the cab is)
4. BPO/Call centres: Many of the call centers hire Taxi/Cab firms. We run into the same problem as (3). There is no incentive for the taxi/cab firms to provide this. BPO firms have to procure and manage these systems. They can position is this as a differentiator for recruiting and retaining employees. Again its not clear if they see the value add (at that price). Everyone (the driver and the passengers) have cell phones.
5. Transportation and logistics companies: Even here the problem is with the cost of vehicle tracking systems and the omnipresence of cell phones.
What do you guys think? I would appreciate any feedback/comments.
Cheers,
Vamsi.