Comments
Chinese mobile handsets maker Gionee Global on Monday said it will spend Rs 20 crore by February in India in marketing and distribution of its products. The company follows February to January as its financial year.
The company that entered the Indian mobile phones market in March has already spent Rs 40 crore till now in promoting and reaching different places in India, it said.
“In the last nine months, we have sold around five lakh handsets and by end of February our target is to achieve 10 lakh handsets. Revenue-wise also, our target is to achieve Rs 500 crore, double from what we have achieved till now,” Lu Weibing, President, Gionee Global, told Business Line here.
In the long-term plan, it targets to achieve a double digit market share (in overall mobile phones) in next five years from around one per cent market share right now. The company started selling in Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab and will also expand to metro cities.
“It makes easier for us — going from smaller cities and towns to metro cities — from the branding or business stand point as it helps in distribution channel. For example, cities like Delhi and Mumbai have more smartphones, but not much in smaller towns and cities in those States,” Arvind Vohra, Head-India, Gionee Smartphones, said.
Target audience Apart from affordable pricing and assured quality of the smartphones, Vohra said the company’s target audience is more towards younger generation aged 12-24 years in India, who would drive their marketshare to double digit growth in the next five years.
The company that has launched 15 handsets (4 feature phones and 11 smartphones) since March, sells the devices priced between Rs 1,800 and Rs 23,000 in over 600 towns and cities, and will expand in more places in the near future, he said.
“We are selling through around 2,100 multi-brand retail shops and our aim is to achieve 4,000 shops in next one year. Going forward, we will be opening our own branded stores as well and open 250 such stores in next one year,” Vohra added.
New smartphone Meanwhile, the company is also launching its latest smartphone on Tuesday called E7 that will have features such as 16MP camera and runs on latest Google Android platform.
ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.