Mobility Monthly Magazine
January 2017
Issue 01
Volume 14
Pages 28
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BEYOND TECHNOLOGY, BEYOND LIFESTYLE
www.mobilityindia.com
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CONTENTS
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Google Reaffirms Commitment to Digitally Empower SMBs in India EDITORIAL
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NEWS
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LAUNCHPAD
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REPORT
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South Indian Customers More Brand Loyal than Other Buyers in India
REVIEW
Swapan Roy Manoj Jha Jayanta Ghosh E.J. Jawahardatham Anit Kumar Karmendra Singh Negi Sandip Sarkar Tridip Dey Sujit Goswami, Pratap Biswas S. Dutt Raj Kumar
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Production
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H.O.: Delhi / Editorial Office Roy Mediative A-23, 1st Floor, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 (INDIA) Mob: 09810380882, 09811346846, 09582951366 Ph: 91-11-41602841, 65683896, 40536384-87
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Google Reaffirms Commitment to Digitally Empower SMBs in India
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SPECIAL STORY
Editor Chief Editor Associate Editor (Tech,) Asst. Editor Art Director Creative Head Acct. & Finance Marketing Manager Marketing Executives
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Mr. Subhash Chandra Managing Director, Sangeetha Mobiles
Mobility Monthly News Paper, Printed, Published & Owned by Swapan Roy at 38-B / 56 Block, C. R. Park, New Delhi-110019 (India).
INTERVIEW
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EDITORIAL
Google to Drive the Growth of SMBs in India SMBs which form over 35% of Indian economy to get special boost from Google, which in a special drive wants to digitize millions of SMBs in India. At present, only 32% of the SMBs operate online in addition to their offline initiatives. Google believes that Indian SMBs have lot of potential which they can tap by going digital. In a conference in that took place in Delhi, Sunder Pichai, CEO—Google spoke at length and depth on how Google plans to digitally empower Indian SMBs, through its initiatives like Digital Unlocked, Google My Business Websites, Google Maps, etc, which can contribute to India’s GDP an extra 10%, taking the nation on a higher growth path. IT Minister, Shri Ravishankar Prasad was also present on the occasion and spoke how Government of India in encouraging the digitization of Indian businesses to take India forward.
Swapan Roy roymobility@gmail.com
Editor’s Choice
Vivo V5Plus 20 MP Dual Front Camera Smartphone Vivo V5Plus with its first-ever 20MP dual front camera is a perfect amalgamation of cutting-edge technology, immaculate design and breakthrough innovation. Vivo V5Plus takes smartphone users on a seamless experiential journey with a better resolution display and a much powerful battery. V5Plus that comes in gold color is the first ever innovation from Vivo that captures the much-needed depth of field thus letting you capture your perfect selfie. Users can shoot first and then select the desired focus area, adding Bokeh effect wherever necessary. Enjoy exquisite clarity and vivid, natural colors in every shot with the all new Vivo V5 Plus.
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NEWS
UBER & MICROMAX ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP Micromax Informatics brand and Uber announced an exclusive partnership to create seamless mobility experience for its users. Simplifying mobility options for all Micromax users by providing unique on-device native experience, the partnership will aim to target 100 million Micromax users to ride an Uber through integrated experiences over the next three years. As one of the leading handset players, Micromax is working towards providing a native experience of services, to its users for the past one year and was the first handset player to introduce one discovery window for the users called AROUND.
ANANT MAHESHWARI, PRESIDENT, MICROSOFT INDIA OFFICIALLY TAKES OVER THE SALES, MARKETING AND SERVICES OPERATIONS IN THE COUNTRY FROM BHASKAR PRAMANIK
Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India officially takes over the sales, marketing and services operations in the country from Bhaskar Pramanik. Mr. Pramanik continues as Chairman for Microsoft in India until March 31, 2017. As he takes over the new responsibilities, two Microsoft partners, a Microsoft student partner, and a Microsoft employee asked Mr. Maheshwari about his vision for transforming Microsoft India, enabling partners, empowering entrepreneurs and making Digital India a reality.
INTEX SMART WORLD BAGS RETAIL EXCELLENCE AWARD AT NORTH INDIA RETAIL SUMMIT Intex Technologies, one of the leading Indian mobile handset and consumer durable company, bags yet another retail industry award, with its branded retail store – Intex Smart World, winning one of the most coveted retail industry award – North India Retail Summit Award, part of the India Retail Forum. The North India Retail Summit Award (NIRS) held its inaugural edition focused on how retailing has evolved in North India and various aspects of current business scenario. Intex Smart World was honored with the ‘Excellence in Retail & Customer Service’ award and received by Mr. Vishal Malik, Head – Retail, Intex Technologies in the presence of retail industry giants from across North India.
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KODAK ALARIS NAMES MARC JOURLAIT CEO TO ACCELERATE GROWTH FOR GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY Mark Elliott, Chairman of the Board of Kodak Alaris, announced that Marc Jourlait has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kodak Alaris Holdings Limited, effective January 1, 2017. Jourlait will be based in Rochester, New York, USA. Interim CEO Jeff Goodman will return to his role as Chief Operating Officer (COO) to support Jourlait during the next few months. Jourlait’s arrival and Goodman’s transition will position Kodak Alaris in a strong, future-facing direction to best serve its customers.
LENOVO K6 NOTE COMES TO OFFLINE RETAIL STORES
Lenovo India announced the next generation of its killer entertainer Note series, Lenovo K6 Note. The new generation offers a refined entertainment ecosystem with advanced Theatermax providing an enhanced stellar immersive audio visual experience, a long battery life, and a 13.97cm (5.5) Full HD display. The K6 Note is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Octacore processor with 4G LTE connectivity, 16 MP PDAF rear camera, 8 MP front camera, slim all-metal unibody design and a Android operating system. The smartphone offers a lightning fast performance, enhanced connectivity and a great camera experience.The Lenovo K6 Note marks a new beginning and is the first ever K franchise smartphone to launch exclusively offline. Making products accessible for consumers to experience at their convenience is one of primary goals of the company and the new K6 Note underlines company’s plan to cater to the need of consumers.
DIGITIZING THE ECONOMY – REFORMS SHOULD NOT OVERLOOK PRIVACY & CUSTOMER SECURITY: MP RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR WRITES TO ARUN JAITLEY & RBI GOVERNOR
MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar wrote to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley & RBI Governor Sh. Urjit Patel apprising them of certain key issues that will arise as the Government and RBI move to increasingly to digitize the economy as well as the banking and payments eco-system being transformed. On the Outset, Mr. Chandrasekhar welcomed the Governments and RBI’s move to transform and digitize the economy. In his letter to the FM, Mr Chandrasekhar sought the minister’s attention to 5 key issues: Defining use and operation of JDY accounts, Defining the Use of Aadhaar in the Banking and Financial system, Planning for Issues of Transaction Fraud, Data Security and Privacy, Growing the Internet Infrastructure and Access to Digital Payment hotspots and Planning for anticipated surge in Digital Black Economy.
NEWS
CMAI SUPPORTS DEMONETIZATION AND ENCOURAGES DIGITAL PAYMENTS CMAI feels that demonetization though a very bold step taken by Hon’ble Prime minister has brought about a radical change in the society by curbing black money, fake currency and illegal usage of currency for terrorist activities. The sudden change has also brought about many hardships to common people, landless laborers and unorganized sector of economy. Many workers and daily wagers are finding it difficult to manage their day to day living for want of cash and currency. However, we feel it is temporary phase and will be over soon.
ITEL MOBILE MARKS QUADRUPLE QUARTERLY GROWTH IN MOBILE SHIPMENTS IN Q3 2016-REPORTS IDC
Having already established itself as one of the fastest growing mobile brands in the country, itel, the hi-tech innovative brand for the Indian consumers from Transsion Holdings Conglomerate, has achieved fourfold growth in its mobile shipments in Q3 2016. The data was revealed in the latest Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report by International Data Corporation (IDC). The latest industry report by IDC comes close on heels of several other independent industry studies which have highlighted itel’s growing stature in the Indian mobility industry. The brand was ranked 6th amongst feature phone brands in India in the Q3 report by Cyber Media Research (CMR), and has secured nearly 2% of the overall market share in the segment since its grand India launch in April. itel has marked the sales milestone of more than 6.5 million handsets so far.
EVEREST GROUP NAMES INFOSYS AS A LEADER AND STAR PERFORMER IN 2016 BANKING
Infosys has been positioned as a Leader and Star Performer for the second time in a row in the 2016 PEAK Matrix for Banking Application Outsourcing (AO) by Everest Group. The consulting and research firm also placed Infosys as a Leader in the Global Capital Markets for the third consecutive year.Infosys scored high in scale and scope of its delivery capability, focus on IP-based solutions, success with next generation initiatives and technologies such as Design Thinking, Mana, Zero Distance, and a strong portfolio of offerings and acquisitions. The 2016 Everest Group Banking and Capital Markets AO PEAK Matrix™ assessment evaluated over 28 leading banking application outsourcing service providers. The companies were mainly assessed on AO delivery capabilities and market success.
TALLY SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCED ITS GST MOBILE APPLICATION Tally Solutions Private Limited (TSPL) announced the launch of its GST mobile application to ensure easy adoption of the Technology led law. The app will be a rich source of information on Goods and Services Tax (GST) for businesses and will help them with understanding GST and its nuances. Its user friendly interface has been designed to cater to both sets of users – those who are adept with technology and those who are easing into the use of technology, for better understanding and automation of their accounting practices. This free enterprise application can be downloaded by Android and iOS users from their respective App stores.
INTEX SMART WORLD LAUNCHES DIGITAL PAYMENTS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR CONSUMERS
In the present time of demonetisation, when everyone is trying to get themselves equipped with the digital economy, Intex Technologies, one of the leading Indian mobile handset and consumer durables company, taking a cue from the current scenario launches a panIndia Digital Payments Awareness campaign showing businesses and consumers on how they can start with cashless transactions using online and mobile methods. This noble initiative to educate consumers was kick-started today from Varanasi in the country’s biggest state, Uttar Pradesh. The pan-India education drive is aimed at giving financial literacy to consumers to make them comfortable with the new & evolving digital or cashless transactions.
300 MUMBAI ICT PARTNERS PLEDGE TO ENHANCE CAPABILITIES, EXPAND ADOPTION OF MULTI-PLATFORM SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Cyber crime cases have surged worldwide, making Indian users also vulnerable to cyber threats. A joint study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) stated that India has seen a rise of nearly 300% in cyber crime cases registered under the IT Act, 2000 in the period from 2011 to 2014. While the emerging digital economy has led to increased volumes of electronic fund transfers, post demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes by Government of India, online payments and mobile wallet-based transactions also face increased risk of attacks by cyber criminals.
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ZIOX MOBILES INTRODUCES STARZ NEO & STARZ BOLT, PRICED AT RS.930/& RS.920/- RESPECTIVELY
Ziox Mobiles, announces two new feature phones ‘Ziox StarZ Neo & StarZ Bolt’ tailored to give users a variety of unique features all packed in a feature phone, at the best affordable prices, both StarZ Neo and StarZ Bolt are designed to the dynamic needs of audience requiring feature rich phone in less than Rs.1000/- Stylish & functional, both devices sport a compact design that gives users a comfortable grip and allows convenient one-hand operation, along with the 1.8’ Bright Display that gives a clear and detailed view of the content on screen, the phone is equipped with rear camera.
GARMIN INDIA INTRODUCES NEW FORERUNNER 35 EXCLUSIVELY WITH PAYTM
Garmin India announced the launch of Forerunner 35 in the Indian market. The newest GPS-enabled running watch with built-in Garmin Elevate wrist-based
heart rate technology allows runners to monitor their heart rate 24/7 without a chest strap. The elegant &classy touch screen tracker brings the joy of full smart notifications and tracks essential data like distance, pace, personal records etc. The stylish Forerunner 35 doubles as an all-day activity tracker as it counts steps, calories and intensity minutes, so users can still record progress and activities even when they’re not running. The Forerunner 35 also includes smartwatch functionality including smart notifications and music controls right from the device.
MOBILITY JANUARY 2017
VIDEOCON STRENGTHENS 4G SMARTPHONE PORTFOLIO WITH THE 4000MAH POWERED ULTRA30
Videocon Smartphone announced the launch of its latest device, Ultra30 in partnership with online portal Snapdeal. com. Packed with advance features such as 4000 mAh battery, 3GB RAM, 32Gb ROM, MiraVision, Cast Screen, camera with LED selfie Flash, Dual WhatsApp, SOS-Be-Safe, Gesture Control, Ultra30 intends to continue the standard set by Videocon in design & craftsmanship in the handset market. The Ultra30 has brought Videocon’s latest innovation in camera, memory and battery power. The Ultra30 sports a 13 MP Auto Focus with Dual LED Flash rear camera while also housing a 5 MP Front Camera with LED selfie Flash. The rear camera has Gorilla Glass Camera Lens.
NUBIA UNVEILS N1 WITH NEW BATTERY TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
Aimed at millennial populace, nubia announced the launch of its new N1 which will be available in the Indian market in exclusive partnership with Amazon.in. Registration will commence from December 16, 2016. nubia N1 is equipped with nubia’s new battery technology – NeoPower, which combines a 5000 mAh battery, excellent system optimization, low power consumption and high performance hardware to achieve a battery life of 3.1 days for normal usage and 1.9 days for heavy users. The nubia N1, the ultimate tool of long-lasting power and a perfect companion for a generation which is always on the go. The nubia N1 will be available in India priced at Rs. 11,999/- on Amazon.in
SWIPE LAUNCHING ACTION-PACKED UNBOXING SWIPE ELITE MAX
Swipe the home-grown brand offered consumers an amazing opportunity to win
a helicopter ride. One lucky winner unboxes Swipe’s most advanced offering till date ELITE MAX with Mr. Shripal Gandhi, Founder and CEO of Swipe Technologies, mid air @25,000 feet. “For the Elite Max, Swipe has taken care to create a memorable unboxing experience. Attention to detail was applied not just in crafting the smartphone but traditional unboxing also got a full makeover.
ASUS ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF ZENFONE 3 MAX 5.5 (ZC553KL) IN INDIA
ASUS, announced the availability of Zenfone 3 Max 5.5 (ZC553KL) in India. Priced at INR 17,999, the smartphone can be purchased on
ZOPO C1 ZP 331 SMARTPHONE LAUNCHED EXCLUSIVE ON SHOPCLUES.COM
ZOPO announced the launch of its exclusive ecommerce portal campaign. The brand new Android smartphone Zopo Color C1 ZP331 is now available at an exclusive price point of Rs. 3999 only on Shopclues.com. ZOPO C1 ZP 331 is the only smartphone with dual LED flash camera (both back & front) in its segment. Priced at Rs 6999, the smartphone is worth the money if we take into account the aesthetics, appearance and performance. The intended customer base for the Zopo Color C1 ZP331 are the college students, young executives and anyone else looking for a durable easy to use android smartphone. Zopo Color C1 ZP331 comes with 8 GB internal memory with an external memory card slot which could accommodate up to 32 GB of high speed microSD cards.
select ASUS Preferred Partner’s retail outlets and all major Online Sales Portals. The 5.2 inch variant (ZC520TL), which was launched along with Zenfone 3 Max 5.5 last month, is already available at INR 12,999. Keeping in line with ASUS’ ‘design thinking’ philosophy, the beautifully constructed Zenfone 3 Max 5.5 features a 2.5D contoured glass touch screen in a finely sandblasted full-metal, aluminum-alloy body with brilliant diamond cut chamfered edges.
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ASUS ANNOUNCES ZENWATCH 3
ASUS announced ZenWatch 3, a stylish and customizable wearable device powered by Android Wear.
ZenWatch 3 will be exclusively available on Flipkart. This precision watch serves as a smart assistant for Android and iOS devices, providing wearers with timely information at a glance and letting them get things done with a simple touch or voice command. ZenWatch 3 is also a full-featured and extremely accurate activity tracker that helps wearers keep their lives in balance and achieve fitness goals.
JOSH MOBILES ANNOUNCES ITS BUDGET FRIENDLY FEATURE PHONE‘MINT’ FOR RS 995/- FOCUSING ON TIER 2 AND TIER 3 CITIES
Josh Mobiles brings another extension to its feature phone portfolio with the launch of its latest ‘Mint’ which is all about long battery life paired with the right entertainment value.With the announcement of its latest feature phone, Josh expands its foothold in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, who seek for quality yet budgeted phones with
longer life. With Compact design and bold looks, Mint sports a curvy polished body which makes the design look attractive. Its bright 1.8inch screen display gives a clearer viewing experience which is further enhanced with the VGA Camera which is supported with video recording.
MOBILITY JANUARY 2017
MOTO M LAUNCHED WITH ULTIMATE COMBINATION OF POWER AND STYLE
Introducing the magnificent new Moto M. Marvelously encased in fine metal, Moto M is a powerful smartphone that reflects your personality, attitude, speed and makes you look good, no matter what you’re doing. This majestic smartphone that that’s all metal and mettle is available exclusively on Flipkart. With its gorgeous full-metal unibody and vibrant 13.97cm (5.5) Full HD display, Moto M offers an elegant design and a gorgeous display that’s perfect for viewing photos and movies. With the blazing-fast 2.2 GHz Octa-core processor and up to 4GB of RAM now share images, surf the web and play games all at at once without compromising on speed. With 64GB of storage built in, Moto M allows you to store all your favorite songs, movies and pictures right on your phone.
COOLPAD UNVEILS COOL 1 DUAL IN INDIA
Coolpad, announced the launch of its flagship phone Cool 1 – the first phone from the Cool series which brings to-
gether software and hardware strength of LeEco and Coolpad. Cool 1 sports a dual rear 13-megapixel camera with dual-tone LED flash. Cool 1 packs a 5.5-inch Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, giving a wide viewing experience and better image quality. With metallic body, Cool 1 gives a superior and premium look.
ALCATEL UNVEILS IDOL 4 SMARTPHONE WITH AUGMENTED MULTIMEDIA FEATURES
Alcatel announces the launch of its flagship device IDOL 4 in India. The uniquely –designed IDOL 4 smartphone take everything up a notch with the new Boom Key and an augmented multimedia experience. IDOL 4 also marks Alcatel’s entry into the expansive VR space and it will be available exclusively on Flipkart. com. We are proud to be the pioneers in democratizing technology by bringing the benefits of VR to consumers across economic spectrum at disruptive pricepoints. Another innovative feature – the Boom Key boom-ifies everything, from the sound to photos to gaming. We are optimistic that the consumers will love this product.” Mr. Praveen Valecha, Regional Director, Alcatel India.
PORTRONICS “DOME” DESKTOP, BLUETOOTH SPEAKER
Dome’s striking design adds greatly to the style quotient of your desk or living room. A nicely embroidered cotton cloth mesh texture on a solid dome-shaped speaker body gives a very unique and elegant look to the speaker. And while it looks mesmerizing even when not playing music, it can surprise people with its powerful and clear sound quality.
A strong 180 degree foldable ring at the base allows Dome to hang on wall, tilt or stand freely on a desk as desired by you. You can enjoy both wired and wireless music using either a 3.5mm Aux-In port or Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. Dome can also act as a speakerphone allowing you to take phone-calls with its in-built microphone.
LEECO’S SECOND GEN SUPERPHONE LE 2 LAUNCHED ON SNAPDEAL
Snapdeal expanded its partnership with LeEco, with the launch of the secondgeneration Superphone Le 2 on its platforms. Snapdeal
also announced a special 10% instant cashback for American Express card users and a flat INR 500 off for other card users, in the Le 2 sale beginning 15th December. LeEco is also offering a free membership worth INR 4990 for all customers, as part of the offering. Making it easier and faster for customers to access the products, Snap-
REPORT
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SOUTH INDIAN CUSTOMERS MORE BRAND LOYAL THAN OTHER BUYERS IN INDIA I
ndia Retail Forum in its second edition of the South India Retail Summit (SIRS) at the ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru that comprising a day-long conference and exhibition, the event’s mission was to focus on ‘Retail Transformation and Winning Strategies in a Connected World’. Speakers, attendees and delegates discussed the following retail trends in detail. The 2nd edition of the Summit kicked off with SIRS breakfast meet, followed by a session moderated by R Sriram, CoFounder, Next Practice Retail on understanding of Experiential Retail: The Act & Art of Millennial Shopping. The session largely spoke about immediate shoppers seeking experiences and relationships when they shop, and how they want the experience to be consistent across all touch points. Who the consumer is, in addition to how, where, and even why they shop, is changing rapidly and forever. The way retail stores look—and retail brands interact with them—are constantly in flux.
MOBILITY JANUARY 2017
The panelists largely conversed on how customers often make purchase decisions spontaneously in the store. Nowadays, shoppers use their smartphones to access all kinds of information as they browse the shelves. If they find a better deal, they may spend their money with another retailer, either online or elsewhere. With integrated sensors and wireless communications, connected lighting systems create an indoor positioning system that can pinpoint shoppers in store, letting retail brands send targeted information directly to them via specially designed mobile shopping apps. In addition to this, Shabori Das, Senior Research Analyst, Euromonitor International, did a session on Euromonitor Research: Key Retail Trends, which discussed drivers of change in convenience in retail largely focusing on the delivery service in the sector. Das also shared insights on new trends in retail sector. The brief discussion largely spoke about the varied consumer behavior influenced by millennial, advent of E-commerce and technology. She also discussed the introduction and use of various tools like Omni channel and Mobile as a tool for click-andcollect initiatives. Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., shared insights about the latest trends in the retail industry and highlighted the emergence of small retail brands affecting a threat to the established players in the sector. In his brief session called, “Hey Retail! What’s New? , Bijoor, introduced the new futuristic trends which largely comprises, Naked Retail, concentrating on stores without brand presence, Organism Retail, which gives impetus to the new age digital application based retail, Segmented Retail, highlighting the demographic sectors and Internet of Things enabled stores.
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REVIEW
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SPECIAL STORY
GOOGLE REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO DIGITALLY EMPOWER SMBS IN INDIA Google India announced Digital Unlocked skills program - making quality ‘going digital’ training available to every single SMB in India. Google India also announced My Business Websites, which will allow any business in India to create and easily manage a free, mobile optimized website, even from a smartphone, starting later this year.
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oogle India reaffirmed its commitment to digitally empower India’s 51 million strong small and medium business (SMB) community. Making the announcements at an event held in New Delhi, Sundar Pichai, CEO-Google, spoke to representatives from hundreds of small and medium business from across the country on the benefits of the web and digital technology. Today, the Internet is a powerful equalizer and we are motivated to bring the benefits of information and technology to as many people as possible. Building for everyone and making it available in the hands of as many people is at the heart and core of what we do. And we do this by investing in open ecosystems. Referring specifically to SMBs, Pichai added, “The Internet and digital technology will be an engine of growth for the Indian economy. Today, anyone can become an entrepreneur, a developer or a creator,
MOBILITY JANUARY 2017
SPECIAL STORY but it is important that they have the right tools and skills to digitize. We believe it is important for us to invest in training and equipping these individuals and small businesses to accelerate their journey of growth.” Setting the context for the initiative, Google unveiled a joint research study with KPMG titled, ‘Impact of Internet and Digitization of SMBs in India.’ The study reiterates that 68% of the 51 million Indian SMBs are offline. Highlighting the macro-economic impact of the Internet, the research found that rising penetration and greater uptake for digital by SMBs could help increase their contribution to India’s GDP by 10%, taking it up to 46-48% by 2020. Ascertaining the benefits of going digital for SMBs, it determined that profits of digitallyengaged SMBs grow twice as fast compared to offline SMBs. Likewise, digitally engaged businesses are able to grow their customer-base significantly with 52% catering to customers
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Google is committed to bring the best initiatives and tools to the Indian public to digitize their businesses and activities
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Sundar Pichai, CEO—Google.
beyond their home city versus only 29% offline SMBs. The report cites the lack of understanding of the benefits of digital technologies and technical skills as the essential reasons for being offline. To address the gap, Google announced the launch of Digital Unlocked, a training program to empower thousands of Indian SMBs with essential digital skills that will enable them to get online and start using the power of the Internet to grow their business. Google also previewed My Business Websites, an easy-to-use offering to help businesses to have a rich, mobile optimized digital presence that will be launched later this year. Rajan Anandan, Vice President- India &South East Asia Google said, “I am very excited to talk to you about changing SMB ecosystem in India. Today, India is one of the fastest growing economies and the second largest smartphone market in the world. And, there has been an unprecedented growth in the demand for consumer goods. MSME or SMBs account for 37% of GDP and employ 120 million people. Google India’s mission is to bring connectivity to everyone and drive the economy. During the last few years we developed a good understanding of how to bring connectivity to majority of the Indians. Google has been on the forefront of launching initiatives to a billion Indians online, including launching apps and services in the Indian vernacular languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, etc. In India,
the single largest challenge has been connectivity and how to reach broadband to every India. On the business side, we are focusing on SMBs as there are 51 million SMBs in India and only 32% are involved in digital business. SMB entrepreneurs can just register on our Google My Business, an initiative we are going to launch soon. For whoever is doing business online, in addition to their offline ventures, the results have been astounding. Also, businesses which are online have significantly larger number of customers (over 50%) outside of their city they operate, compared to those who work only offline. Most interestingly, those SMBs that leverage online employ 5 times more number of people than those who operate only offline. It is estimated that by going online, SMBs can increase their contribution to GDP by 10%, that taking the total contribution to up to 47%. As of today, over 68% are present only offline. This has 2 reasons: first, most SMBs do not have the awareness that online can really and substantially improve their business. Second, they do not have the technical skills or they think it is too complex to work online. In the last few years Google has launched several initiatives such as Digital Unlocked, Google Maps and soon Google My Business. Many businesses have already started benefitting from these two initiatives.” With Digital Unlocked, Google is committed to ensure that every single SMB in India that wants to go digital has access to quality training. In keeping with the varied learning needs of the millions of businesses in India, Google has built this program across online, offline and mobile. The offline training is being conducted in partnership with FICCI and over the next 3 years, 5000 workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities. The online training comprises a set of 90 self-paced video tutorials, curated specifically for India and are available free of charge at g.co/digitalunlocked. The tutorials cover a comprehensive set of topics ranging from building a web presence and driving online growth to reaching customers over mobile and video. The trainings are certified by Google, Indian School of Business and FICCI. Sundar Pichai further elaborated, “Earlier, information was a luxury when I was a child. But today even kids sitting in India can access a lot of information at a faraway place like US. Google during the last 2 decades has been working with commitment to make the information available to the people across the globe. Our current focus in India is on SMBs, which today are the backbone of Indian economy. Since my last visit a year ago, Google has announced a lot of initiatives for the expansion of the business abilities of Indian entrepreneurs. The tools for going online for businesses are getting easier and powerful as time goes by. Through using Internet, even a small business can become a big one within a short time. In traditional ways of doing business, middlemen are involved who charge their own commission. But the online operations help you to bypass unnecessary middlemen and their fees, which saves time and money. Using an online platform helps to quickly up your business volumes overnight. Over the next 3 yrs, we will be reaching 1000s of businesses in India. Any SMB with Internet connection can sign up with us and start. Any business can build their own website and control it themselves easily. Google is serious about helping Indian SMBs and transform their way of doing business as never before.” Using Google platforms, several businesses are starting digital platforms and leveraging the benefits, mankind advertising simple. Google My Business, to be launched later this year, helps to unlock the power of Internet and online channels for doing business in a more efficient way. Digital Unlock
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is an online and offline training program. Online training has many short and highly helpful video tutorials. At every step of the training process, you get more answers for your common queries. Our Digital Unlocked is being implemented in partnership with FICCI. These training programs teach you how to build a successful digital campaign. Primer mobile app is another initiative that very useful and easy to operate. Google My Business is a free service that helps personal business transform into actions and enables SMBs to propel their businesses. Using My Business entrepreneurs can set up and operate their own websites very easily and effectively. Next our initiatives also have the option to use India vernacular languages. Over the last six months, we have been working with 40,000 Indian businesses and results have been astounding.” Further, for India’s mobile-first audience, Google also launched Primer, a free mobile app uniquely designed to teach digital marketing skills in a quick, easy and interactive way. It is available for download through the Google Play and iOS app store. Primer also works offline and is currently available in English and Hindi with Tamil, Telugu and Marathi versions coming shortly. At the event, Google also previewed My Business Websites aimed at equipping the vast majority of small businesses with a simple way to start their digital journey by creating a free, mobile optimized website, easily and instantly.
Available for Google My Business users later in the year, this new feature will provide simple, template, editable websites for small businesses created from their data and photos on Google Maps. My Business Websites will be available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada and Malayalam. Several small businesses that have leveraged Google’s products and technologies were also present at the event. Three of them - Walnut, Go Co-op and Maganlal Dresswalla - were in conversation with Sundar Pichai and shared their journey to digital using Google offerings including Google My Business, Google AdWords as well as the Google Cloud Platform. The announcement is a continuation of Google’s efforts
MOBILITY JANUARY 2017
to support Digital India. Last year Google had launched GoogleMy Business, a program aimed at helping SMBs get an online presence on Google Search and GoogleMaps, without having to invest in a website or domain. Over 8 million Indian SMBs are already on these platforms, with thousands more coming online every month. Speaking on the occasion, IT Minister, Mr. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad; said, “I am glad to be here talking to Sunder Pichai of Google and others here. Our Prime Minister, Modi’s vision is to make Indian an Honest, Strong and Digitally empowered country. I am happy that Sunder Pichai and his team are taking great initiatives through Google to digitally empower SMBs in India. I wish Google will employ more Indian managers in future to promote and implement Google’s initiatives in taking India to the next level in the process of digitization of the economy. We missed the industrial revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries and then we also missed the entrepreneurial revolution that swept across the world in the later part of the 20th century. But now we do not want to miss the digital revolution that started in the 21st century. Today, we are seeing a digital transformation and metamorphosis at a massive scale, as never before. Powered by the digital push, today, even those who do not know English and even illiterates are becoming digitally literate. Digital India, Make in India and Skill India are in the process of making an amazing India. Today, in India there are nearly 350 million smart phones and 1.9 billion Addhar accounts. Now already over 40 mobile manufacturers have started their manufacturing plants in India under Make in India program. Today, even people in the rural areas are actively using ecommerce. There are 51 millions SMBs in India. Now even government apps are being downloaded in millions. Those who are making Aadhar cards etc, I will call them digital soldiers. After the stock market has gone digital, things have improved and changed for better very fast. Demonetization has given another push to the digitization as even small groceries and even shops started accepting digital payments. I appeal to Google to become a proud partner of India and take more initiatives to digitize India. India should become a great hub of digital transactions in the coming years.”
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CHANNEL FOCUS
Mr. Subhash Chandra,
Managing Director, Sangeetha Mobiles
Sangeetha Mobiles Today a Leading Mobile Retail Chain in India
I
ndian smartphone market today is the 2nd biggest in the world. Now retail chains have become an import part of smartphone distribution channels in India.
buying originals with an original bill and manufacturer’s warranty is honest and safer for the customer and good for the nation’s economy.
Sangeetha Mobiles, based in South India, is one of the largest and fast expanding retail chains of mobile phones in India. Started in 1974 as a small music store in Bangalore, was named aptly by its founder, L.P. Narayana Reddy, as ‘Sangeetha’ means music in Hindi and most Indian languages. Later added televisions, appliances, computers (1985) and pagers (1995) to the store’s portfolio. Today, with the name Sangeetha Mobiles the company has grown into a huge multi-brand retail giant with presence in 10 states, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, with over 320 stores and 12 million satisfied customers. Sangeetha sells 1.4 million phones every year and is aRs 1000 crore retailer employing more than 2500 people. With 180-plus showrooms in Karnataka alone, Sangeetha is the only retailer in the country that has over 100 stores in a single city, Bangalore.
“As years passed, customs duties came down, the price difference between the white and the grey also came down and the demand for handsets in the white market picked up gradually. At one time, we were selling 70% of all the Nokia phones sold in Bangalore. We were the first to launch EMI schemes on mobile in association with GE Finance and Standard Chartered Bank. To attract customers away from grey market, we also launched theft insurance in 1997 according to which once our customer’s mobile is lost, he just had to lodge an FIR and we used to give him new set. In 2008, we launched a broader insurance that covered liquid damage, theft, physical damage, etc where we used to give replacement within 72 hours and depreciation was counted at just 10% per year. In 2015, we launched insurance at our own expense along with 30 days free damage-protection and we discontinued the third party involvement in insurance,” adds SUBHASH CHANDRA.
In an interaction with Mobility magazine, SUBHASH CHANDRA, Managing Director, Sangeetha Mobiles, shares, “We were the first to sell mobile phones in Bangalore, when mobiles were just launched in India in 1996. We started with JTL which was the first operator that was later acquired by Airtel. In 1997, we signed with Spice Telecom. Initially, over 90% customers used to purchase mobiles in the grey market as customs taxes used to be 60% on the mobile phone’s cost. As a result, a similar handset that might cost INR 20,000 in white was available for only INR 12,000 in grey market. We were the only major seller of handsets in white in Bangalore at that time. And we had to convince the customers a lot that if they purchase in white, even though it costs more, customers will get warranty, service and then the bill of original product. Selling mobiles during such hard times made us tough and helped us to develop the confidence to remain in the race even during hard times.”
The real benchmark of Sangeetha is they offer the customer ‘Peace of Mind.’ Sangeetha became the first Hutch retail shop in India in 2002. In January 2012, Sangeetha Mobiles beat Pantaloons and Godrej to win the award for ‘Excellence in Customer Service’ at the second Economic Times Retail Awards.
Since 1997, Sangeetha has been selling only mobile phones and nothing else. Sangeetha encouraged consumers to buy the SIM cards and original handsets under-oneroof (at Sangeetha). During the initial and difficult years, Sangeetha promoted the concept that, even though white goods were more expensive than those in the grey market, MOBILITY JANUARY 2017
Regarding future plans, SUBHASH CHANDRA, briefs, “So far our activities have been mainly confined to mainly South Indian states, but In future, we want to strengthen our presence in the states where we are not still strong and then expand to other states in India. We are on special drive to enlist new retailers who have sufficient space and basic financial strength and give them Sangeetha’s franchisees. Mobile phones business is one business where the margins are still decent whereas in IT the margins are shrunking to such an extent it is no longer profitable.” Today, Sangeetha sells not just mobiles, sells ‘better customer experience’ and strongly believes in CARE of customers. Sangeetha’s guiding philosophy has always been to create an experience of belongingness by delivering technology that touches, improves and empowers the lives of the customers.
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INTERVIEW
2017 will mark a turning point for ZTE: We caught up with Mr. Batra to know about ZTE’s plan for 2017 in India months. Our products will be available through e-commerce portals and retail stores across the country, which will give our consumers a chance to experience the mobile devices before making a final purchase. Q. In 2016, we have seen Chinese brands aggressively approaching the Indian market and gain a lot of ground in all the segments? What will be ZTE’s answer to this? A. Chinese brands are redefining the domestic smartphone market with superior quality products and associating with various mainstream properties for high visibility and share of mind. Their increased focus on a better build quality and powerful specifications to offer improved performance at low cost has changed the perception in the minds of consumers. India is a high potential market and even the rural markets offer plenty of growth opportunities. This is the ideal time for ZTE to enter the Indian market and slowly, after some point, it’s not just going to be about growing the pie, but taking a bigger share of it. Q. Why you feel that ZTE will make a mark in India in 2017?
Mr. Sachin Batra
Chief Marketing Officer, ZTE
Q. As a new CMO what will be your strategy for ZTE in India? A. ZTE will be taking a hybrid online-offline approach with some phones being sold exclusively through an e-commerce partner. We are in process of partnering with one of the biggest e-commerce retail brand and will be making the announcement soon. We will have a mix of products, from phones to smart devices, at different price points, available online. We are aiming at 3-4% market share in 2017 in smartphones. Q. What are the device launch plans for ZTE in India in 2017? A. We are planning to launch 8 new smartphones in the half year of 2017, out of which two smartphone devices will be launched online and the rest will be launched offline. We are currently focusing on launching the Blade series smartphones which will be priced below Rs. 15,000 and will focus on bigger battery and camera performance, the two most important features consumers look for while buying a smartphone. Furthermore, these devices would be 4G-enabled and most of them would be Volte devices. Well ahead, we also plan to launch smart home solutions, projector and other wearable categories. We are creating new partners and training them to ensure we have an extensive presence across the country. ZTE would have 25,000 retail touch-points by leveraging this initiative in the next few
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A. ZTE is a technology brand. We will always have an edge over the counter, in terms of technology. ZTE has its origins in the telecom business, and its hardware is a driver of the Internet in India. And even if a consumer has never bought a ZTE phone, he might well have used a wireless router, hardware or data dongle from the company, carrying branding of one of India’s telecom providers. ZTE is the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the US. We aim to have that faith and connect with people. Q. What are the key strategies ZTE is focusing now? A. ZTE’s primary focus was completely B2B category, but 2017 will mark a turning point for us as we will focus on B2C. We plan to launch innovative products in the Indian market at disruptive prices through ecommerce platform and simultaneously get into general trade. This will be our absolute hybrid model. ZTE wants to hit all parts of the market, but will not be playing the specs war. Instead, we plan to add features that can potentially enhance the experience of our smartphones. Q. Why is Axon 7 not launched in India yet? A. Every market is different and India is a very diverse, interesting and challenging market. A lot of companies want to tap the Indian market potential. We want to focus on affordable to affordable premium category of smartphones this year and then plan to launch our flagship models here. Q. Tell us more about your home automation segment A. We are planning to introduce ZTE’s smart home solutions that comprise of a suite of products for home entertainment, visual communication, home monitoring, family album, smart projectors and home network-attached storage (NAS). It is IoTenabled and works on an Android app to control Wi-Fi-enabled appliances to create a connected home. The smart home solutions are lined for an early Q2 launch in 2017.
Date of Pub: 10th January, 2017 | Postal Dt.: 16th & 17th of same Month/ Posted at NDPSO
R.N.I. No. DELENG/2004/14198
Postal Reg. No.: DL(S)-01/3442/2016-18