In what could be termed as renaissance for Obi Mobiles, the Dubai-headquartered company co-founded by former Apple Chief Executive Officer John Sculley and serial entrepreneur Neeraj Chauhan, launched two new handsets in August. The mid-range smartphones — Obi Worldphone — were launched targeting the markets across Asia, Africa and West Asia.

Obi Mobiles, which also counts entrepreneurs Shane Maine and Gordon McMillan among its co-founders, had failed to make its mark when it launched operations in July last year. Now, the company is banking on two differentiators — design and price – to sell about 10 million devices, which would propel it to the top 15-20 handset companies in the world, says Neeraj Chauhan. While the initial roll-out starts with Vietnam, moving over to other countries, India launch might happen only by December.

In a tete-à-tete with BusinessLine , Chauhan, who is also the company’s Chief Executive Officer, says the company will launch in India after gaining good traction across global markets. Edited excerpts:

This is the second coming for Obi Mobiles and you have said that you are rectifying the earlier error. What went wrong in the first attempt?

Earlier, we tried to follow a model that was Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) driven. Under this, a handset manufacturer goes to a Chinese ODM and orders devices with certain specifications of design and price. This is an efficient model as it enables the company to bring a device to market in 45-60 days build a portfolio of products.

The problem was that we were trying to do something that we ourselves were not convinced. We thought to do this business, we have to own the design, technology and have control on quality. We want to do these ourselves, rather than taking a product and just branding it. So, by last December, we came to the conclusion that we don’t want to go with the ODM model, but have to do it ourselves.

Being a late entrant into the over-crowded and highly-com- petitive handset space, where even biggies are struggling to get a foothold, how do you expect to carve a niche?

Our proposition is different, which is around design and price positioning but without compromising on quality. These should create a space for us, as discerning customers will buy our products. We have a well-laid rollout plan for this year, starting with Vietnam, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, then in eastern African countries of Kenya and Tanzania. This will be followed by western African nations of Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast, and then across ASEAN countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. Then we will probably do Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

Your handsets are priced at $199 and $249, with features of a $700 handset, something companies such as Xiaomi are doing? Wouldn’t this bleed the company?

Yes, companies such as Xiaomi did prove a model. We are introducing a great device and pricing is more or less incidental. The pricing is related to the cost incurred by us to build and margins we intend to make in the business. We will not make losses or huge profits.

Why is there a delay in coming to the Indian market, considering it is an important market for global handset manufacturers?

India is a huge market and we have to give it the respect it deserves.

When we launch in India, we have to be ready in terms of marketing and reach, and it would require large investments. We would definitely be in India this year after we have gained good traction across global markets.

You have roped in Future Generali as an investor? How much is the insurance firm investing in and what are its exit options?

We are not disclosing the stake as of now, all we can say is it’s a minority stake. Being an insurance company and not a typical PE investor, Generali is probably looking at long-term investment. There are no exit plans as of now. We feel that the potential of this company would get realised over the next 3-5 years, and then we will see how things get evolved and will take a call then.

We are well covered for the current requirement but at the same time as a growth business we will be open for further investment.

Any numbers that you expect to sell?

Of course, we would want to reach a figure of 10 million devices, but how soon is the question. This will propel us to the top 15-20, but not among the top 10.

How many new products are in the pipeline?

We are still debating and deciding. There are no restrictions at our end on whether we have to launch it at mid-end or high-end.

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