Until about three years ago, Indian mobile manufacturers saw their sales peaking, particularly in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment. They were the undisputed leaders in the sub-Rs 5,000 category. At a point in time, they even sponsored high profile cricket tournaments and tours.

Now, all that has changed. The Chinese players, in the higher bracket, and Jio, in the lower end, have cut it at their roots, killing their USP of feature-rich phones at an affordable price.

It seems they are now looking at other options to stay afloat. Some have shutdown a few facilities, some others have scaled down their capacities. A few others are looking at other business opportunities in the same space.

Promoters of Celkon, that was once among Top-5 Indian mobile manufacturer, have decided to enter the lucrative mobile accessories business with a new company Conekt and has roped in ‘hitman’ Rohit Sharma to promote its new range of products under the new brand.

A largely untapped area by the organised players till recently, it is estimated that the market opportunity in this space is about Rs 18,000 crore, growing at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 12 per cent.

Celkon promoter Y Guru has launched Conekt, a new company, to get a headstart in the space that offer an average selling price (ASP) of Rs 600 a piece.

The firm has made an initial investment of Rs 10 crore on manufacturing and assembling mobile accessories such as neckbands, wireless headphones, sound accessories, car chargers, phone chargers and power banks.

“The monthly sales of phones by Indian phone makers plummeted from 90 lakh pieces a month two years ago to just 40 lakh phones a month now,” Pradeep, a Conekt Director, told Business Line.

“This prompted the Indian players to look at a newer business opportunities in the space - the mobile accessories business. The organised players have not focussed much. There is a huge opportunity as consumers now don’t mind owning more than one power bank, ear phones or a sound accessory. This is multiplied by the number of consumers in a home,” Pradeep said.

The share of organised players in this space went up to 48 per cent this year as against 30 per cent last year, indicating the entry of bigger players, he said.

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