InFocus in talks with telecom operators for bundled services

American mobile brand InFocus has said it is in talks with all major telecom operators, including Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, for bundled services in the future.

“Right now, we have a tie-up only with Reliance Jio. Recently, we had a meeting with Vodafone in Mumbai. They work a lot with itel Mobile and we also want to work with them. Airtel is also a key player and since they are launching VoLTE services across the country, we are also in discussions with them,” Luo Zhongsheng, Global Chief Executive Officer, InFocus and Sharp, told BusinessLine on the sidelines of a product launch here on Wendnesday.

Starting December, the company also plans to launch handsets with bundled services not only in urban areas but also in tier IV and V towns, under its ‘phones for everyone’ campaign.

“Operators will play a big role in this (campaign) as we don’t have such facilities of bundled services in a big way right now,” he said.

Meanwhile, the company said it will start selling offline from this month-end and plans to sell from around 35,000 multi-brand stores covering major States — including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal — by this year-end.

The company also plans to launch its Sharp brand of smartphones between November and December. Zhongsheng said Sharp smartphones will be in the premium range, priced over ₹20,000.

He said the company expects 30 per cent of sales from Sharp and the rest from InFocus in the next two years, after which the share of sales is expected to be 50:50.

The company unveiled its latest smartphones — InFocus Snap 4 and Turbo 5 Plus — priced at ₹11,999 and ₹8,999, respectively.

While Snap 4 will be available from September 26, Turbo 5 Plus will be available from September 21, exclusively on Amazon.