India’s Electronics Industry: How’s It Doing?

29 December 2022

India’s Electronics Industry: How’s It Doing?

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Supply-chain problems, lack of manpower, fluctuating dollar, and inflation are a few of the challenges being faced by India’s electronics industry. Increased demand, expanding customer base, and growth in indigenous manufacturing are some of the blessings for India’s electronics industry. So, how’s the sector actually doing? Has it recovered post-Covid or not?

“How was the last financial year for India’s Electronics Industry?”

That’s the question our team attempted to find an answer to by speaking to 350-plus top-shots and business executives spread across different segments of the industry, and geographies. What we uncovered is pretty exciting.

Business trends

Since we got an opportunity to speak to key executives, we not only asked about business trends but some other related issues too. But, first let’s look at the key business trends uncovered…

Was FY 21-22 a growth FY?

Have the businesses grown in the latest financial year (Apr 21-Mar 22) over the previous year (Apr 20-Mar 21)? That’s the first question we posed. And, we have good news to share…

A whopping 84.3% reported that it’s much better than the previous FY. And, only 10.3% reported that it’s not as good, with 4.9% reporting it as “similar to the previous FY.” For very few it was very bad.

How was FY 21-22 as compared to the pre-Covid FY?

In other words, have you grown over the FY which had little impact of Covid? That’s what we posed next.

We were surprised by the findings here. For a very large majority (71.5%) the previous FY was even better than FY 19-20. That means India’s electronics industry has recovered from the ills of Covid, and is striding towards a fast growth.

Result. 71.5%: It’s much better | 21.9%: It is not good | 6.2%: It is similar| Rest: It is very bad (0.4%)

How’s the supply-chain crisis?

You cannot produce a meaningful survey on the electronics industry without exploring this pressing issue—the severe supply-chain crisis that’s affecting production all across the globe, including India.

Given the positive results shared earlier, we felt that the supply-chain crisis would have reduced. But, we were wrong! A majority (64.8%) stated that it’s as bad as earlier. Additionally, 16.4% stated that it’s gotten worse.

Result. 64.8%: It is bad as earlier | 16.4%: It’s worse than earlier | 13.8%: It is no longer an issue | Rest: It is much better (5%)

Launching new products?

This question was focused on the OEMs. Given the unique combination of challenges and opportunities, were they launching new products? Had they launched any product recently or were planning to launch one soon?

It was encouraging to see that 52% of them have launched new products recently. And, an additional 20% are planning to launch one shortly.

In other words, there’s clear evidence of investment in their businesses, and hence setting the stage for long-term growth.

Result. 52.9%: Have launched new products recently | 20.6%: Planning to launch new products shortly | 26.5%: Not launched and have no plan to launch in near future

Expanding channel partner network?

Typically, when a market is expanding, the need for partnerships increases—especially between OEMs and their channel partners or system integrators.

37% turned out to be businesses that don’t need channel partners. Barring them, the majority polled (34%) seem to be happy with their existing channel partners and hence were not keen on expanding or inviting new partners. About 20% are actively seeking new partners—and could be an opportunity for like minded firms to partner,

Result. 37.1%: Our business does not require channel partners | 34.3%: No need for expanding channel partner network for now | 20.5%: Yes, we are expanding our channel partner network | 8.1%: Yes, we plan to start expanding our channel partner network.

HR Trends

Besides the business trends, our survey managed to capture some valuable insights with respect to hiring trends of the industry. However, since we were speaking to business decision makers and influencers, some were not sure about their hiring practices and hence could not answer these questions.

Are you hiring now?

One of the first casualties of Covid was job cuts. Is that dark period over? Has hiring started? That’s what we sought to find out.

Happy to report that there’s good news here too: a large majority (54%) confirmed that they are actively hiring!

Result. 54.1%: Hiring new talent | 37.0%: No, we are not hiring | 9%: Not aware about current hiring needs.

Is hiring tech talent a challenge?

Post-Covid, there’s been a lot of talk around ‘mass resignation,’ especially in the tech sector. Some firms have seen their attrition touch 30% on a quarterly basis! Since tech talent forms the core of the electronics industry, it was important to understand if hiring tech talent was posing a challenge to Indian businesses.

As expected, the majority of the respondents (70%) shared that they were facing challenges in hiring tech talent. Seems like it’s the best time for talented techies right now.

Result. 70.2%: Yes, hiring good people with technical background is a challenge | 14.4%: No, we do not find technical hiring a challenge | 15.4%: Not in a position to comment.

Are the jobs visible on websites like LinkedIn or Naukri.com?

With so many firms hiring, where can the tech talent go to know about the opportunities available? Is it job websites like Naukri.com or LinkedIn? 56% promote their job openings on job-related websites. The others seem to be depending on traditional methods like references, agencies, etc.

Result. 56.3%: We use portals like Naukri.com & Linkedin for hiring | 32.3%: No, we don’t | 11.5%: Not in a position to comment.

Can you list electronics jobs for free on ElectronicsForU.com?

That’s a question we asked in the end to understand if the industry was aware about the platform we had developed for them to engage and attract the right talent. Unfortunately, a majority (68.9%) was unaware of it. Clearly, our marketing team will have to do a better job for promoting this platform.