Chennai: The rate at which smartphones are being launched in India state that the country is a hotbed for manufacturers and retailers in the segment.
According to research firm IDC, the smartphone market in India grew 14.5 per cent in 2018 with shipment of 142.3 million units. In the previous year, shipment stood at 124.3 million units.
The overall smartphone average selling price remained flat in 2018 at $158 or around Rs 11,000, with high shipments in the mass segment of $100-$200.
Mobiistar, a Vietnamese smartphone brand recently launched their smartphone X1 Notch in the country in the affordable segment and barely two months into its foray into the nation, the brand has entered the offline space with presence in 475 cities in 27 States.
News Today recently had a conversation with Carl Ngo, co-founder and CEO of Mobiistar and here are the excerpts.
Q: With the launch of the new X1 notch, does Mobiistar aim to cater only to the affordable segment at present?
A: Mobiistar began its journey in India with an exclusive online partnership with Flipkart and within three months, took its portfolio to the offline space realising that Mobiistar’s target audience resides in tier II and III markets. The brand’s aim is to be among the top five smartphone brands in the affordable segment.
Q: The profile of the firm reads ‘Mobiistar plans to develop the smartphone segment in India by understanding the consumer need for a selfie smartphone’. Do you mean the smartphone segment in India is not developed enough?
A: The smartphone segment in India is developing rapidly which makes it a very dynamic space to be in. Mobiistar takes into account, consumer feedback and the latest trends on the basis of which we develop our products. For example, keeping in mind the selfie trend in the country, we developed products that enable our consumers to take the perfect selfies, similarly, our latest phone, X1 Notch is equipped with Notch display and great design so that our consumers are able to enjoy more at a lesser cost.
Q: More and more smartphones are being launched in the affordable and mid-segments. How does Mobiistar aim to take on the competition?
A: Mobiistar has received a lot of love from its consumers especially in the tier II and III markets. We are competing with ourselves by bettering our offering with every launch and giving the consumers what they are looking for.
Q: Although there is huge potential in the affordable segment, premium smartphones are finding more takers as well. Your take on that.
A: Yes, the potential is tremendous in the affordable segment, but the truth lies in the fact that this segment will not lose the momentum as India keeps adding more and more subscribers on a daily basis from urban and rural areas so there will be a good balance between the affordable and premium segment.
Q: The average usage of a smartphone is a year now. With that in mind, how much importance do companies give to their product being robust and fail proof?
A: Our target audience resides in tier II and III cities and a lot of them are also first time smartphone users who do not change their phones that often. It therefore, becomes imperative for us to provide them with good quality, durable devices so that they are satisfied with their investment. No compromise is made on quality as we customer satisfaction and enjoyment is our top priority.
Q: State your manufacturing capacity. Also, for the Indian market, mention your sales target.
A: Mobiistar produces all its products in India from a plant in Bawal, Haryana with a capacity of 1.5 million phones per annum.
Q: Can you tell us the revenue data of the firm?
A: Mobiistar only entered the Indian market in May 2018. Since then, we have received a tremendous appreciation from our consumers and have been growing at a very fast rate. We aim at being among the top five smartphone players in the affordable segment in the coming few months.
| Xiaomi leads |
| Chinese brand Xiaomi with 28.9 per cent market share led the Indian smartphone market in 2018, followed by South Korean brand Samsung at 22.4 per cent and Vivo at 10 per cent, an International Data Corporation (IDC) report said.
“The premium end of the market outgrew all other price segments in 2018 with 43.9 per cent year-on-year growth – OnePlus emerged as the leader in the price segment range $500-$700 and in the super premium segment and Samsung surpassed Apple for the top position with its Galaxy S9 series,” said associate research manager, Client Devices, IDC India, Upasana Joshi. According to the report, the online-focused brands drove the online channel share to an all-time high of 38.4 per cent in 2018 and 42.2 per cent in 2018 Q4 whereas offline channels had a rather muted year with a modest 6.7 per cent annual growth and a five per cent sequential growth in Q4. On the other hand, the feature phone market, primarily driven by Jio Phones, which makes up 56 per cent of the total mobile phone market, clocked 181.3 million-unit shipments in 2018, with 10.6 per cent yoy growth. |