Can you give us an overview of lighting infrastructure in India? 
We are here in the country for eighty-five years. Today we have a large R&D base and factories in India. Almost 95% of what we sell in India is all designed and made in India. We have been a market leader for decades in the field of lighting. 

The exciting thing that is happening in lighting is that it’s now adapting to Internet of Things (IoT). It’s becoming connected lighting, whether it is for smart cities or it is for smart homes. The world of lighting is moving from being a standard Rs 10 bulb to smart lighting devices in our houses and cities. And all of that work is now also happening in India. 
 

In consumer segment, over 50% of bulbs sold are conventional bulbs! Is this because of availability or affordability issues? How can we fix this?

Affordability is a big part of it. As we know conventional bulbs are still cheaper, and there is a large section of our society that cannot afford bulbs which are expensive. So, in India where conventional bulbs will cater to needs of one segment, LED or more efficient bulbs will cater to the second segment and then there is more mature, technically progressive segment, which is open to adopting these newer technologies. All three segments will co-exist, however as the technology matures, the share of the third segment will see a boost. 

For instance, LED is growing at a very high pace; over 100% year-on-year for us. Smart lighting is growing at even faster pace while conventional category is gradually declining. 
 

How is smart lighting catching up across the country?

It is catching up at a very rapid pace. It’s already in offices, industries and commercial establishments --specifically in the B2B space. More than 75% of lights that are now sold are LED lights. Thanks to Smart City programme that’s underway and the government’s drive towards energy efficiency. More than 75% of lighting in the B2G is now LED. 

So in both spaces, dominant share of what’s getting bought is LED. In consumer space, I would say it is 50-50, because of the affordability. 

Within this, penetration of smart lighting is increasing. It still has a low, single digit share of less than 5%, but it is increasing rapidly. 
 

Do you think, in a country like India, consumers are well aware of smart lighting and their advantages?

One segment of the society --which is the digitally active and connected segment, is well aware of smart lighting and their propensity to buy is increasing. It is not different from any other smart technology penetration in the country. 

For example, ten years back when smartphone came in, it was a novelty; it didn’t even exist. And then it started catching up and now more than 25% of phones sold are smartphones. Similarly, the penetration wave is going to come to lighting, and it is coming at a faster pace than the phones. It took smartphones ten years to go from 0-25% penetration today, whereas in lighting it may take five to seven years to attain the same kind of penetration. 
 

How are your smart lighting products evolving? How has the response been from users?

I think it is very good. This quarter, what we have in terms of Philips Hue in India is double of what we sold in a corresponding quarter last year. It is a triple digit year-on-year growth but on a small base. 
 

How is Philips gearing up to tackle the impending IoT ecosystem that’s catching up slowly now?

We have global partnerships with various players who are promoting smart homes. Whether it is Amazon Alexa, Samsung Smart Home technology, or Apple Home Kit; Philips Hue is the only solution that has native connectivity with each of them. 

It is the default lighting system that works with each of these systems. We have built-in APIs and connectors into all of these systems. As the smart home accessories like Apple Home Kit, Google Home or Amazon Alexa grows in India, the smart lighting ecosystem will automatically grow. 
 

What are your top priorities as we move ahead in 2017?

Connected and smart lighting is one big priority area, and we are investing in it as newer connected lighting systems are getting launched. We’re building our points of sale so that more and more consumers can go and buy from retail stores such as Chroma, Reliance Digital, online through e-commerce, and over 200 light lounges in India. 

We’re making sure each of them is equipped with Hue experience zones where consumers can go and experience it. Building out these points of presence, where consumers could go, touch and feel the connected or smart lights, is one area where we are making big investment. 

Enhancing consumers’ communications through ATL or digital marketing and continuing to build these partnerships like I mentioned are the three pillars we are working on. 
 

Is the government working towards converting the conventional lighting to efficient LED lighting?

The government is doing a big enablement. Two years back, Prime Minister announced ‘Prakash Path’ programme, which is aimed to move from basic lighting to LED lighting. Government is driving this through various government procurement mechanisms. So, overall, government is supportive of that. 

With smart city plan underway, where hundreds of smart cities are planned, we’re going to see connected smart lighting for streets being implemented. In some cases, smart connected lighting is being used for architectural lighting—for parks and tunnels.