JOIN USDolby Laboratories, the company that provides high quality audio experience to most theatres in India, is now bullish on licensing to the Direct-to-Home (DTH) providers as the government stresses on digitisation of cable networks.
According to the government directive, digital set-top boxes were supposed to be mandatory from July 1, 2012 until it was postponed to November 1, 2012. However, despite this delay, Dolby is betting big on this segment to penetrate more into the
consumer market.
“We have already tied up with three DTH providers and some more will follow soon,” Dolby Laboratories India Marketing Head Ashim Mathur told Deccan Herald.
The company has joined hands with DTH players Airtel, Sun Direct and Tata Sky to provide high definition (HD) audio to consumers through set-top boxes. “The awareness has always been around HD video, while audio has always taken the backseat. Now we are planning to enter deeper into consumer electronics to make them aware of HD audio benefits,” added Mathur.
Dolby has been in India for almost 20 years, first through a partner and from 2009, through its own subsidiary and mainly into movie theatres. However, now it is also focusing on the consumer electronics space where products are closer to customers.
The company has also teamed up with mobile phone maker Nokia to deliver ‘Dolby Digital Plus’ and ‘Dolby Headphones’ experience on mobile devices. Apart from that, Dolby is also teaming up with laptop manufacturers like Acer to provide Dolby licensed audio on the device.
“The ever-swelling population of mobile handsets in India opens up a huge opportunity in that space and we are heavily committed to capture as much market as possible there,” said Mathur.