Global & Indian Market Scenario
The global translation market is estimated to be 33.5 billion USD in 2012 and 34.7 billion USD in 2013 with a growth rate of about 5.13%. The market is expected to expand further and reach 43 billion USD in 2016.7 The present market is mostly controlled by MLVs based either in Europe or in North America. In 2012, the continent-wise break up was: North America – 34.85%, South America – 0.63%, Europe – 49.38%, Asia – 12.88%, Africa – 0.27% and Oceania – 2.00%. For Asia, the positive point is that the market share was increased from 7.43% in 2011 to 12.88% in 2012. One of the major reasons why the translation and localisation industry first flourished in Europe, especially in Western Europe, is that the MNCs first started to localise their products into European languages, such as, French, German, Spanish, Italian etc. In Asia, localisation started in Chinese and Japanese, followed by Hindi, the biggest language in India. The scenario has changed quickly, and now MNCs are getting their products localised in most of the 22 languages listed in the VIII schedule of the Constitution of India, with special emphasis on 10-12 major Indian languages with most number of speakers.
A panoramic view of Indian Market
India is considered to be one of the fastest growing technology markets, and accordingly, many companies are adopting various methods to expand their presence. Tech giant Microsoft Corporation, known for their Operating System – Windows and popular Office Suite – Microsoft Office, is one among the major players getting their products localised in Indian languages. At present, Language Interface Packs (LIPs) for Microsoft products are available in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi, Telugu and Tamil. Installing these free LIPs, downloadable from Microsoft website, will enable users to use Windows and Microsoft Office products in their own languages. It is worth mentioning that Microsoft Windows and Office products are also available in Sindhi and Urdu, but localisation in these two languages are not undertaken in India. Currently, South Korean Mobile and PC marker Samsung is investing a huge sum of money to localise their mobile phone user-interface (UI) in some major Indian languages. A recent addition to the MNCs list that are localising products into Indian languages to attract more and more users is Chinese mobile phone maker – Xiaomi. Its Indian subsidiary Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited is, at present, localising their popular products, especially mobile phone UI, popularly known as MIUI, to 10 Indian languages. Besides these, tech companies like, Google, Adobe, LG, Sony, Meizu, Oppo etc are also localising their products into Indian languages in recent times. With every single day new companies joining the bandwagon, the translation market in India is expanding at an accelerated speed. Publishing Companies are also contributing towards the expansion of language and translation market in a big way. Big publishing houses like Pearson Education, Oxford University Press etc have been testing the water of Indian language publishing sector from time to time. Sage India, in 2015, launched a new project called ‘SAGE Bhasha – The Indian Language Publishing Program’ under which books in Indian languages will be published. “SAGE Bhasha is a natural extension of our English language publishing program. Our core focus is social science publishing and in business and management and we plan to extend this vision and focus into the regional language program,” says Vivek Translation Today 85 Biswadip Gogoi Mehra, Managing Director and CEO of SAGE India.9 In terms of revenue, the Indian translation Industry is just 19% of the Asian Industry. It is estimated that in 2013, it was as big as a billion USD market. If translated into Indian rupees, it would be a whopping 6500 Cr.10 Without any doubt, it is one of the fastest growing sectors in terms of economy – 40 million USD in 2007, 100 million USD in 2010, 500 million USD 2012 and 900 million USD in 2013. This indicates that it has witnessed a staggering 200% growth in 2012-13.