HP India Exec Vickram Bedi Talks About Improving Products for Gamers, New Omen, HyperX Products, Better After-Sales Support, More

Editor’s Note: HP India gave IGN India the access to Vickram Bedi to conduct the interview.

HP India has just announced its latest gaming portfolio across its Omen, HyperX and Victus lineup of products. The company unveiled its HP Omen 16, HP Omen Transcend 16, and Victus 16 gaming laptops, as part of the launch. We also got a HyperX Cloud II Core Wireless gaming headset and a 27-inch HyperX gaming monitor with QHD (2K) resolution.

In the lead-up to the HP launch, IGN India connected with Vickram Bedi, the Senior Director for the Personal Systems segment at HP India, over an email conversation. As part of this chat, we quizzed Vickram about how HP is trying to bring better gaming-focused products to the Indian market. This included consumer trends, buyer feedback improvements, strategy tweaks, and outlook towards the existing government policies.

We also spoke about improvements in the after-sales support for HP buyers around repair and service. Here is our complete conversation with Vickram.

Rehan Hooda: Considering the decline in the PC gaming hardware market in terms of demand, what steps has the company taken to ensure the upcoming product line-up swims against the prevalent trend?

Vickram Bedi: While the overall PC market has shown demand softness, PC gaming sales is bucking the trend and after strong growth in 2022, PC gaming sales has registered y-o-y growth in the first quarter of 2023. In the last 4–5 years, the gaming PC market has grown strong double-digit and in the long term, we expect this trend to continue. India was always a huge mobile gaming market, but now we are seeing a strong shift from mobile gamers to PC gaming as most of them want to elevate their gaming experience.

As the leading gaming PC brand in India, we always listen to the gaming community and innovate our product portfolio. As per our insights, we understand that along with gaming, gamers are using their devices for content creation, basic computing and building social connection. Hence, we are introducing a thin and light version of our flagship Omen laptops which suits today’s hybrid lifestyle. Additionally, we are adding more power and game play options in our mainstream Victus notebooks. With this new portfolio, we wish to cater to the aspirations of all segments of Indian gamers.

Rehan: What is the one aspect that you were surprised to come across in the PC gaming industry in the last year or two while preparing to bring this portfolio to the market? If not one surprising aspect, do you want to debunk one myth for customers?

Vickram: Gaming is no longer limited to a specific group of people. It’s a myth that gaming is only for hardcore gamers. Gaming is for everyone, even if the level of involvement may vary. Our aim is to make gaming mainstream and create a gaming ecosystem that appeals to all types of audiences.

That’s why we have expanded our gaming portfolio with a range of OMEN and Victus laptops and desktops. These devices not only cater to different types of gamers but also allow them to fully immerse themselves, get more involved, and enhance their gameplay.

Rehan: Could you share your wish list of changes in the country around policy or infrastructure that can make things better for hardware makers and buyers alike?

Vickram: The esports industry in India is booming, and the potential for growth and development is enormous. HP India Gaming Landscape Study 2022 also revealed that gamers see multiple career opportunities in gaming. Apart from being an esports athlete, there are career options like streaming, software development, and becoming a gaming influencer.

We are happy to see that the Government is proactively building a regulatory framework for esports, and this will lead to the creation of physical infrastructure creation both at the government and industry level. To enable gamers to experience PC gaming, we have introduced Omen Playground stores, where gamers can play games without any cost and improve their skills. So far, we have opened 12 Omen Playground stores, and we aim to open a total of 40 stores across India.

Rehan: HP has just announced its latest gaming portfolio for the Indian market. Is there anything different that you are doing with this launch when compared to past HP gaming product launches in terms of strategy? If so, what?

Vickram: After establishing ourselves as the top PC gaming company in India, we realised that we wanted to offer our consumers an even more exceptional gaming experience. We didn’t want to be just another gaming hardware company—we aimed to provide comprehensive solutions that seamlessly integrate across our gamers’ entire ecosystem, including software and peripherals. Gaming has become mainstream, and we wanted to lead the way in catering to this broader audience.

That’s why we have introduced our new portfolio, which includes the upgraded Omen Gaming Hub. This software is specifically designed to optimise your gaming performance and ensure you get the most out of your PC and games. It offers a range of tools for performance optimisation, personalised controls to customize your setup according to your preferences, and the flexibility to play all your favourite games effortlessly. We currently have 2 million monthly active users with 40 million games boosted on Omen Gaming Hub. With HyperX, we are enabling our products to work better together. HyperX and OMEN together engineered the world’s first gaming laptops with an embedded module for intuitive audio pairing via a bundled HyperX Cloud II Core Wireless gaming headset option.

Rehan: What is the one product from this launch that is truly unique and buyers should definitely check out, and why?

Vickram: Today’s gamers need devices that are thin, light, powerful yet portable. And that’s not all—they also need devices that can seamlessly transition from work to play in a hybrid environment. Our latest PC lineup including Omen Transcend 16, Omen 16, Victus 16 and HyperX 27” gaming monitor has been carefully designed to meet these evolving needs of different types of gamers.

We have launched the Omen Transcend 16 – HP’s thinnest and lightest gaming PC at under 2.1kg and 19.9 mm, with strong performance capabilities with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 series graphics and 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900HX processor. It is built for gaming and creation with a cutting-edge screen, premium slim chassis, and high-end internal components. The laptop stays cool while playing top titles and even while multitasking with advanced OMEN Tempest Cooling. The Omen Gaming Hub and Omen Dynamic Power help precisely detect real-time GPU and CPU capacity for an elevated performance.

Rehan: Are there any case studies based on user feedback from India that have shaped the development and R&D of the upcoming HP gaming lineup?

Vickram: According to user inputs, gamers wanted devices that support a strong cooling system while playing AAA games. Cooling technology, storage, RAM, and battery life are unique and crucial features for gaming devices, and a whopping 89% of consumers are willing to pay extra for these features.

Our market research has shown us that customers often underestimate the importance of thermal management when purchasing a gaming machine. That’s why we have focused on improving the thermal with Omen Tempest Cooling to our entire new gaming portfolio, with Omen Transcend and Omen 16 being 34% and 29% better, respectively, on thermals than their predecessors. We achieved this by redesigning our devices with a new airflow system and thinner blades. We also incorporated a square venting design to allow more air to flow in and out, and we made sure that the top hinge trunk doesn’t block the rear venting.

In addition to this, we have introduced the ECO Mode in the Omen Gaming Hub. This feature can reduce fan noise by up to 7 dB in OMEN and Victus Laptops, providing a more peaceful environment for intense gaming sessions. We have also learnt from our insights that gamers are looking for an elevated gaming experience. As I mentioned above, we integrated our gaming ecosystem with HyperX peripherals.

Rehan: Are there any improvements (with pointed examples from real user feedback) in the after-sales service? What is HP doing to support/improve repairability and upgradability in the latest lineup of the Omen gaming portfolio?

Vickram: HP has started a special after sales service facility for our gaming devices. We understand that gamers are emotionally connected with their machines and at times they need specialised attention from service teams.

Hence, our new gamer specific service includes:

• Gamers for Gamers: Here, we provide premium agents earmarked and trained to take special calls regarding very technical requests pertaining to Omen and Victus laptops
• Support on Wheels: An option to explore products and accessories in our gaming van while repair is done
• DOA Claims: Hassle-free replacement of DOA unit up to 28 days from date of purchase
• Call me back option: With this initiative, users can describe the issues they are facing via our website, and we ensure a call back to them for resolution
• 12×7 Onsite support: We provide 12×7 support at our consumers’ doorstep to immediately check and resolve any issues
• 24×7 WhatsApp support: We provide a 24×7 support on WhatsApp for resolution and case creation for gaming devices

Rehan: Any user trends that the company has seen as part of customer feedback instead of any third-party market research efforts, and what did HP do to accommodate these trends?

Vickram: As per HP India Gaming Landscape Study 2022, gamers are looking for places to experience PC gaming and to improve their skills. With this insight, we created Omen Playground Stores across India to provide a holistic gaming experience without any fee. Omen Playground is a place where mobile or first-time gamers can experience the power of PC gaming and skilled gamers can immerse in the superior technology of HP devices and the Hyper X gaming ecosystem. The stores aim to allow a free of cost hub for emerging talent in the Indian gaming industry to engage in the latest technological innovations. We have 12 OMEN Playground stores running in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Hubli to name a few. Our vision is to create 40 OMEN Playground stores in 2023 across India.