Mobility Issue jan 2016

Mobility Monthly Magazine

January 2016

Issue 1

Volume 12

Pages 28

20

www.mobilityindia.com

beyond technology, beyond lifestyle

4g: The Road Ahead in India

channel focus

Mr. Amit Bansal

President, Corning India Technologies.

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Contents

12 News 8 Launch pad 10 cover story

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4G: The Road Ahead in India

review Power House: High Capacity Power Banks iFrogz Carbide

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Editor : Chief Editor : Associate Editor (Tech,) : Asst. Editor : Art Director : Creative Head : Acct. & Finance : Marketing Manager : Marketing Executives :

Circulation Manager : Production :

System Manager :

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 P. Biswas Ashish Ghosh Ashok Kumar Paul Ajay Biswas

H.O.: Delhi / Editorial Office Roy Mediative A-23, 1st Floor, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 (INDIA) Mob: 09810380882, 09811346846 Ph: 91-11-41602841, 65683896, 40536384-87

special report 22

Redg.Off.: 38-B / 56 Block, C. R. Park, New Delhi-110019 (India).

Best of CES 2016

Branch Office: Mumbai: E-mail: roy@ mobilityindia.com

CHANNEL FOCUS

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“Corning is continually looking for ways to improve Gorilla Glass and enhance the protection for devices�

featured Emerging E-COMM Enabling the Traditional Brick And Mortar Retail

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Kolkata: 105/12B, Dum Dum Road, Sil Colony, Kolkata-74 Contact: 09330922965; 09903392620 E-mail : roy@ mobilityindia.com Orissa: Saraswati Behera Building, Kharavella Nagar, 2nd Lane, Near Jyoti Nagar, Berhampur-760001 (Orissa) (India) Contact : Raj Kumar-09338410809, 09439263711 Email : info@mobilityindia.com ncn_reporter@yahoo.com Mobility Monthly News Paper, Printed, Published & Owned by Swapan Roy at 38-B / 56 Block, C. R. Park, New Delhi-110019 (India).

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Mobility January 2016

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editorial

4G to be the trend in the coming months

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he New Year 2016 dawned with the hopes of taking mobile phone technology to a new level. With 4G ready to be launched, all the vendors are bringing 4G-SIMs and 4G-ready handsets. With 4G, everyone expects that the experience of downloading videos, etc is going to enter a new era.

With government wanting to enhance the interaction with the masses, including those at the rural areas, through Digital India, the high speed 4G is expected to take the process to next higher level making it easy and interesting to the users.

Swapan Roy roymobility@gmail.com

The 4G is expected to accelerate download / upload of videos and music, seamless video chats, the ease in using their favorite apps, high definition video streaming, mobile gaming, two-way video calling, etc and drammatically transform the user experiences.

Let us enjoy the latest technology and look forward to more innovations in the coming months.

Editor’s Choice

iBall Cobalt 5.5 F Youva 5.5-inch Smartphone with 4G Connectivity iBall Cobalt 5.5F Youva is designed exclusively for the Youth, who like the phone are thrilled with what they can do and have an insatiable appetite for newest technology. Aesthetically appealing yet powerfully packed with 4G Connectivity, iBall Cobalt 5.5F Youva leaves the young generation spoilt for choice only at Rs. 8,999/-. It offers a suite of smart features that add up as the definitive package for the generation that aims superfast connectivity and the non-stop entertainment on-the-go.

Hot on the Heels iBall Cobalt 5.5F Youva blends iconic design with modern trends which is not just good to hold but rich to feel. Thephone deserves a spot in the design hall of fame with its incredibly tasteful body, rounded edges & the best ergonomic Curve. The 2.5D Curved Glass smartphone is every bit of a stunner which offers the most comfortable and convenient grip for the single-handed operation even at 5.5-inch.

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Mobility January 2016

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News

Vodafone Rolls Out 4G-Ready SIMs in Delhi & NCR

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The 24th Convergence India 2016 Opens with 434 Exhibitors s Vodafone India enters the final stages of bring- from 29 Countries

ing the World’s largest 4G network to the country’s capital, it announced, the availability of 4G SIMs for its customers at all of its Vodafone stores located at prominent locations across Delhi & NCR. Customers who are upgrading to 4G-Ready SIMs will be rewarded with free 1GB 4G internet, at the time of launch. All they need to do is send a short SMS “GO4G” to 199.

To avail 4G services, customers will need to have a 4G-enabled handset and a new 4G-Ready SIM card. To ensure a smooth and seamless exchange of 4G-ready SIMs, these are being made available in advance of the commercial launch of Vodafone’s 4G services in Delhi & NCR.

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he 24th edition of South Asia’s Largest ICT, Broadcast and Digital Media expo opened today at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Mr Kiran Karnik, Chairman, CII National Committee on Telecom & Broadband, India who was moderating the inaugural conference session on Digital India, said, “I am delighted that Convergence India has organised a session on Digital India, the panellist comprised of eminent names who bought a unique and different perspective on the various issues involved. The result was an excellent session which provided many insights and useful suggestions.”

Mr. Keshav Bansal, Director, Intex Technologies Recognized with the Amity Leadership Award for Business Excellence

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ntex Technologies, the No. 1 Indian mobile handset brand is proud to announce that Mr. Keshav Bansal, Director, Intex Technologies was recognized with the “Amity Leadership Award for Business Excellence” for leveraging information technology in the telecommunication sector,

by Amity University.

The award was presented to Mr. Keshav Bansal by Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Founder President, Amity Education

Group, during Confluence 2016 – 6th International Conference on “Cloud System and Big Data Engineering” held at Amity School of Engineering and Technology, Amity University

Logitech Wins Five 2015 GOOD DESIGN Awards

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ogitech announced that five of its products have been named 2015 GOOD DESIGN Award winners for achievement in design and product excellence. This marks the fifth consecutive year that Logitech products have been awarded GOOD DESIGN Awards.

The awarded products include the Logitech Wireless Mouse M280, the Logitech Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480and the Logitech ConferenceCam Connect as available in India and the Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse, the Logitech KeysTo-Go for iOS, as available internationally.

Bracken Darrell, Logitech president and CEO, said, “Recognition by prestigious organizations such as GOOD DESIGN motivates us to continue our focus on design and making exceptional products.”

Mobility January 2016

on January 15th. The event was attended by several eminent personalities from Government, industry, global universities and academia.

“I am honoured to receive this award. At Intex Technologies, it is our constant endeavour to excel in all areas of our business so as to provide the best products and services to our consumers,” said Mr. Keshav Bansal, Director, Intex Technologies.

COAI submits Budget Recommendations for FY 2016-17

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OAI has submitted its recommendations for the Union Budget for FY 2016-17 to the Ministry of Finance, Government of India on behalf of its members, representing the telecom service providers. The key recommendations on both direct and indirect taxes, include suggestions on rate of interest, CENVAT Credit, deductibility of spectrum fees paid and tax withholding on distributors margin on sale of SIM cards and prepaid vouchers, etc.

Key submissions on Direct Taxes included: 1. Withholding tax on Spectrum Trading, 2. Characterization of telecom services as Royalty, 3. Tax Withholding on Distributors’ margin on SIM cards and prepaid vouchers and 4. Deductibility of spectrum fees. Similar key submissions were also made on Indirect Taxes.

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Launch Pad

Swipe Technologies launches luxurious metal frame smartphone – Virtue

Swipe Technologies, India’s leading Mobile Internet Technology Company and the No.4 brand in the tablets space in India, has announced the launch of yet another innovative and luxurious smartphone Swipe Virtue at an astounding price of Rs. 5999/- .The device is available exclusively on Snapdeal.

Running on latest android lollipop 5.1 and with a 1.3 GHz quad core processor, the device promises a super responsive multitasking experience. Swipe Virtue has a stunning 5”HD IPS display which will give a new facelift for spectacular viewing experience. With 2GB RAM and 16GB+32GB expandable memory, Virtue offers the right technology in hands.

Hyperx Cloud Drone Headset Launched in India for INR 3,999/HyperX, a division of Kingston Technology, launched its HyperX Cloud Drone headset in India, at an affordable MRP of INR 3,999/-. With its 40mm directional drivers, comfortable memory foam ear cushions and a stylish design, HyperX Cloud Drone headset offers a passionate audio experience for gamers and audiophiles.

Mobility January 2016

Pantel Technologies unveils LeEco (formerly known as Letv), finally entered India India’s First Windows 10-based by launching two groundbreaking SuTablet Penta perphones, Le Max and Le1S.Le Max WS802X is backed by one of the world’s fastest LeEco forays Indian Mobile Market with two Le Max & Le1S Smartphones

processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which is primed for better multitasking and unrivaled performance, all thanks to an octacore processor and the phone’s 4GB DD-R4 RAM plus variants of 64GB or 128GB storage. To prove the phone’s outstanding performance, LeEco compared Le Max with several other international brands by adopting AnTuTu Benchmarking Scaling.

Usha Shriram” forays into Mobile Handsets; targets Rs. 720 Cr. Sales in 2016

“Usha Shriram”, among the most trusted Consumer Durable brand with a Pan India presence has announced its ambitious plan to venture into the fast growing Mobile Handsets with an exclusive range of GSM, CDMA Feature and Smart Phones.

Karbonn Mobiles introduces its new UI- “Kandy” on 4G enabled Karbonn Quattro

Karbonn Mobiles, the homegrown Smartphone brand, announced the launch of its new user interface- Kandy on Karbonn Quattro L50 offering a customised 4G experience to its users. In their quest to bring the best technology experience to its customers, Karbonn’s UI Kandy has been especially developed basis feedback from Smartphones users to bring the most user friendly, stable and secure 4G experience to customers on Quattro L50 HD.

DataWind introduces two new mobile phones PS 2G4X and PS 3G4Z in India Focusing on low cost smartphone markets in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, DataWind Inc launched two new Pocket Surfer smartphones PS 2G4X and PS 3G4Z priced at INR 2499 and 3999 respectively.

Pantel Technologies in partnership with Intel & Microsoft has launched India’s first Windows 10 tablet with 8-inch IPS display called Penta WS802X. This tablet is exclusively available on HomeShop18 at INR 5499.

The Penta WS802X is powered by a 1.3GHz quadcore Intel Atom Processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The tablet features an 8-inch IPS display (1280×800 pixels) resolution. The Penta WS802X comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage that is further expandable via microSD card (up to 64GB).

QiKU enters India with its flagship model, Q Terra

QiKU, which has within eleven months grown to number four position in the online smartphone market in China, announced its India entry with the game changing flagship Q Terra. Q Terra is competitively priced at INR 21,999 in India and a special price of Rs 19,999 for its ‘Gamechangers Fan Community’ through Q Invites. QiKU Q Tera features a 6-inch IPS FHD Display. It has twin rear cameras of 13MP each and an 8MP front camera.

The dual-SIM phone runs on the 360 UI on top of Android 5.1.1 and supports Micro and Nano-SIM. It is powered by Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor and comes with 3GB RAM and 16GB ROM, which is expandable up to 128GB via microSD card, backed by a 3,700 mAh battey.

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Cover story

4G: The Road Ahead in India

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he upcoming 4G is expected to push India to the next level in the mobile revolution. This is also expected to accelerate the Digital India initiative. Make in India is expected to reach the handsets, to the customers, with the best features at affordable prices. The industry wants the government to facilitate this transition with proactive initiatives and incentives to drive the telecom industry.

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With 4G all set to launch, now handset vendors are vying with each other to provide 4G-enabled handsets with better features. The upcoming 4G is expected to significantly enhance the mobile Internet experience for customers with faster download / upload of videos and music, seamless video chats, greater ease in using their favorite apps, mobile gaming and two-way video calling.

Next, Digital India is an ambitious initiative by the Government of India to ensure that the essential government services are made available to the population, both urban and rural, electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. Since the delivery of all services under the Digital India initiative will be done on mobile phones, 4G is going to play a key role in connecting the entire country with high-speed Internet networks.

Given the linguistic diversity of our country, the vendors are also introducing a range of devices supporting many Indian languages to encourage adoption.

Vendors are increasingly finding it profitable to manufacture in India so that they can make use of tax rebates and other incentives to provide the best features at lowest possible prices. This is expected to push up the global rank of India in Internet usage.

The telecom industry expects that the government must ensure the stability of the 4G network and take care that the promises made by service providers translate to reality. Only then, people can enjoy the real data. Next, the industry expects BIS to be followed strictly to maintain the quality compliance and prevent non-quality products at bottom-low price from creating disturbance for the genuine products and companies.

The government must introduce policies including tax holidays, interest subsidies and easy financing options to the India-based manufacturers to give a push to domestic handset manufacturing to establish India as a power in international mobile market. That will help in faster realization of goals like ‘Digital India’ & ‘Make in India’ and take the mobile and Internet revolution to masses.

Leveraging its global network and experience, Vodafone is also the first and only telecom service provider to currently offer international roaming on 4G to its India customers visiting UK, Germany, Romania, Spain and Netherlands.

Vodafone 4G services can be readily accessed from 4G-enabled handsets offered by leading smartphone manufacturers (iPhone, Samsung, Micromax, Microsoft, Lava and Xolo) available across the country.

Naveen Chopra, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone India said, “Vodafone’s global expertise and experience of launching 4G across 20 countries gives us a better understanding of this technology and the needs of the 4G customers. Initial response from customers who have experienced our 4G services in Kerala and Karnataka has been positive and encouraging. As a steadfast partner of Digital India, we remain focused on deploying multiple technologies –be it 2G, 3G and now 4G-for optimum use as each technology has its own vital role to play in servicing the myriad connectivity needs of consumers across the country.”

Reliance

“India and Indians cannot afford to be left behind in this new world. India is ranked around 150 in the Internet and mobile broadband penetration out of 230 countries, Jio is conceived to change this. 1.3 billion Indians cannot be left behind as the world enters a new era. We have the youngest population in the world.

Give them the tools. Give them the skills. Give them the environment. They will surprise us. It is this opportunity to transform the lives of our 1.3 billion Indians that motivated Reliance to enter this space. And Jio is the result.

Jio will help advance and realize the potential of every Indian and India. I have no doubt that with the launch

Indian Telecom Service Providers Vodafone

Vodafone 4G will significantly enhance the mobile Internet experience for customers with faster download / upload of videos and music, seamless video chats to enjoy and greater ease in using their favorite apps.

Customers will also adore features like high definition video streaming, mobile gaming and two-way video calling.

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Cover story

of Jio, India’s rank will go up from around 150 to among the top ten in the next few years for Internet and mobile broadband penetration,” said, Shri Ambani.

2016 is going to be the year of high-speed internet in India. This year we will not only see the launch of much awaited Reliance Jio’s high-speed 4G and broadband services to the masses, but we are also hoping other leading telcos to follow suit.

Tikona Digital Networks

In January 2014, Tikona received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to raise Rs 2.48 billion ($41.8 million) through foreign direct investment.

Tikona requested an increase in the foreign equity participation from 71% to 72.58% through the issue of compulsorily convertible debentures and equity shares to the existing non-resident investors. The IFC funding comes as a part of this fund-raising exercise. These expansion plans will also help provide employment to 350 Idea Cellular According to Mr. Sashi Shankar, CMO, Idea Cellu- professionals and create 20,000 indirect jobs in support lar, “With Idea’s foray into 4G services, we are strength- and facilitation functions over the next five to six years. ening our 4G portfolio and digital presence through an assortment of digital content in partnership with leading content aggregators, handset manufacturers and e-commerce retailers. ‘Movies and Videos’ is the highAccording to Mr. Shashin Devsare, Executive Diest consumed service category by data consumers on rector of Karbonn, our 4G series ‘Quattro.’ Karbonn the Idea network, and I’m confident that our associaQuattro L50 is the first 4G device of the series. Karbonn tion with ErosNow will provide an enriching experience as a brand has been focused towards simplifying the to our 4G customers.” technology experience of the customers to encourage Idea has recently announced the launch of 4G seradoption and with our 4G offerings. We aim to take this vices across five southern states of India, and plans to vision forward.

Our new UI ‘Kandy’ has been especially expand to 750 towns in 10 service areas by June 2016. developed based on feedback from smartphone usThe association with ErosNow, will enable Idea 4G ers to bring the most user-friendly, stable and secure 4G experience with Quattro L50 HD. It has been designed to allow users to dictate the way they use their smartphones to match their digital proficiency. Cutting on multiple menus, Kandy offers an integrated PCM, wherein users can access the dialer, contacts, logs and messages within a single menu with one swipe.

“We plan to begin this New Year by entering the 4G market. We have a few new 4G compatible models lined up which we will be launching soon. Since the India market is still opening up to the wave of 4G, which is still very new with limited presence, our game plan is to launch the 4G phones while simultaneously focusing Mr. Sashi Shankar, CMO, Idea Cellular on our 3G phones said Mr. S.S. Bassi, Country Manager customers in these markets to enjoy rich premium con- – SAARC, Sangfei Mobility (Philips Mobile) According to Mr. Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO, tent from a wide library of Movies, originals and short Swipe Technologies a phone is not just a medium of form Videos, at a monthly subscription price of just Rs. communication, it is a medium of conducting busi49. Idea is also offering a special subscription offer at ness, providing critical services and entertainment and just Rs. 29 per month for its new 4G customers till 31st sharing happiness.

4G is likely to bring in major transMarch 2016. formation in the way we use a mobile phone. Mobile Idea has its 4G network in many places in India and communication touches all spheres of life be it educaoffers its high-speed 4G services in the telecom circle of tion, healthcare, business or entertainment and it has Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu & been changing the way people do things every day and Chennai. Idea is also offering its 4G Internet plans at Swipe has been one of the stakeholders of this change 3G data price along with 100% extra data. This extra in India.

From its humble beginnings in 1995 with 2G data makes Idea 4G plans much more attractive than telephony, Indian telecom sector has come a long way other service providers. and the 4G technology takes the mobile telephony in India and the world to the next level.

Airtel To cater to the demand for 4G-enabled mobile deAs of now, Airtel 4G has the maximum coverage vices, Swipe launched ELITE 2 (our most-affordable 4G area in the country and is operational in tens of big device) & Swipe Ace Strike 4G Android Tablet in the last cities. Airtel 4G data packs vary greatly. Airtel 4G data quarter of 2015. Most mobile services will be offering 4G packs will cost you more if you are in Northern part of services in this year and being a leading mobile commuthe country than if you are residing in the southern part nications devices maker in India, we at Swipe are quite of India. 10 GB 4G data plan will cost you Rs. 1998 in excited about the transformation that is under way. the North but you can subscribe to the same pack for “We have planned a number of 4G-supporting prodRs. 1347 in the South. ucts – smartphones & tablets – this year under our ELITE

Mobile Handset Vendors & OEMs

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range of mobile devices. Our R&D team is working on creating some of the most feature-rich phones with compelling user experience and affordable prices. We are in talks with service providers for bundled offerings, wherein the service providers will offer 4G-enabled devices at discounted prices for subscribing to their 4G services. We are extremely optimistic about Indians’ preference for 4G,” Gandhi added further.

“The mobile phone industry is moving at rapid pace to welcome the real use of 4G network. Today, all the handset manufacturers endeavour to have 30% product portfolio of 4G-enabled handsets. With Reliance Jio slated to roll out their services soon, the mobile Internet eco-system and dynamics will surely change in India market in 2016. Particularly, the demand of 4G will increase in metro cities and A-class cities with the clientele being proactive to exploit the data revolution.

At Videocon, we also understand the importance of 4G network. The same will be exhibited in our new range of smartphones. In near future, we will have 12 to 15 4G enabled models with 5”, 4.5” and 4” screen sizes said Mr. Jerold Chagas Pereira, CEO Videocon Mobile Phones Elaborating on their 4G plan for India Vivo CEO Mr. Alex Feng said “The Indian 4G market has experienced an abrupt rise in demand. Over the coming quarters, India’s 4G data business is expected to demonstrate tremendous growth opportunities due to the declining ownership cost and rising consumer awareness. Continuous technological advancements and increasing need for high speed wireless connectivity are expected to drive the Indian Data Card market. Our upcoming new launches will ALL be 4G-supported devices. We want to prepare our customers for this incoming technological revolution”.

Mr. Alex Feng, India Vivo CEO

Scope and Opportunities for Vendors

According to Mr. Devsare, as per IAMAI, the local language user base in India grew 47% and touched 127 million in June. The growing consumption of local language content on mobile phones is a clear indicator of the need for vernacularizing the smartphone ecosystem for bridging the digital divide. We are very focused at building a strong local language ecosystem on smartphones to ensure that the benefits of technol-

Mr. Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO, Swipe Technologies

ogy could be experienced by users across the spectrum irrespective of their English language proficiency. We recently launched K9 smart which offers users the option to navigate the device in up to 12 Indian languages offering non-English speakers the comfort of accessing the device in their first language thereby lowering adoption barriers.

“We believe that 4G has indeed immense potential in a country like India, provided the existing issues like poor network quality, low penetration, etc are swiftly resolved. There is already a growing demand for data with excellent network quality. The penetration of 3G and the launch of 4G will further contribute to a greater demand said Mr. S.S. Bassi.

According to Mr. Gandhi 4G is the next big opportunity for the mobile communications devices makers like Swipe. With Reliance Jio expected to launch 4G services at competitive prices, we feel that other providers will follow the suit with similar offers and Indian mobile users’ will steadily migrate to 4G devices. However, the availability of affordable 4G-enabled devices will be important for the successful acceptance of 4G in India. Swipe is consciously focused on the affordable devices segment, where the consumer base is going to the largest”.

“The current roll out of 4G network is small in comparison to 3G network reach in the country. While 4G is yet to go mainstream, telecom companies are expanding their 3G network in different regions to provide better data experience and instant connectivity. With the proper execution of 4G network, the next phase in the India telecom market involves building data and services to deliver greater value to consumers and drive growth that is more profitable said Mr. Pereira.

Mr. Alex Feng said the burgeoning Indian economy, increasing youth population, and high untapped potential have made India gain popularity as a business destination globally. Also, we see a parallel in the Indian mobile market and what we witnessed in China during 2011 to 2014. The market is moving rapidly from 2G to 3G and now to 4G. There has been a paradigm shift from feature phones to smart phones in India. Further, over the time, wireless connectivity has become an indispensable part of the lives of the Indian consumers and especially amongst the youth. This is the right opportunity to foray into the Indian market as it’s a potential market for smartphone industry.

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Cover story

Mr. S. S. Bassi, Country Manager – SAARC, Sangfei Mobility

Key Challenges

According to Mr. Bassi one of the main hurdles in the path of 4G in India is the lack of suitable ecosystem in terms of proper device support. While in case 2G and 3G, there is a greater uniformity in frequency across countries, with 4G the frequency is different in different countries. In India itself, the private and non-private cellular operators have received different 4G spectrum, inadvertently affecting the operability of the 4G devices across regions with different spectrum bands. In India, 4G faces further limitations as not all cellular operators hold 4G licenses.

The challenge for the manufacturers like Swipe will be to scale up to meet the huge demand of 4G-enabled smartphones. The challenge will also be to offer superior user experience by way of offering highly customizable user experience and the software said Mr Gandhi.

Mr. Pereira mentioned that the lack of a robust ecosystem of devices, which happens with every new technology, is one of the major challenges that come in the way of 4G deployment. While some mobile players have already launched 4G-enabled devices in the market, but not the necessary volume is available. The price of 4G handsets is high, so making the 4G technology mainstream is not going to happen in anytime soon. Additionally, the upgrading of 2G and 3G networks along with deploying 4G service would be challenge for the telecom players”.

According to Mr Alex Feng good network infrastructure is required and 2. Customers’ awareness of our brand, and of our commitment to 4G development.

How affordable Devices make an impact?

The very fact that in spite of being a domestic brand we offer international quality devices is one of the main reasons why Brand Karbonn clicks. “Today consumers are very price sensitive and aspire for products which bring them the best-in-quality at the most affordable prices. It is here that we come into the picture and offer them the best quality in mobile technology at a price which is well within their reach. Increasing price to become a niche’ product is never a business strategy for Karbonn,” said Mr. Devsare of Karbonn Mobiles.

Mr. S.S. Bassi said affordable devices can make a huge impact on 4G as it will enable greater level of 4G penetration in India. While it is easier for a person belonging to the upper middle class and above to change phones after every new upgrade, in the present scenar-

Mobility January 2016

io wherein 2G and 3G continue to flourish, bringing out affordable 4G compatible devices will go a long way in achieving higher 4G penetration in the country.

“India offers a huge market for mobile phone makers. A large part of the overall Indian demand comes from aspiring youth in the Tier 2 and 3 cities and towns.

While they aspire to use a better device, their affordability is limited at this stage. Hence, if a mobile phone maker is targeting the pan-India market, which includes a large hinterland, it must factor in the price sensitivities of this population,“ said Mr. Gandhi.

According to Mr. Pereira India is a price-sensitive market so the cost might be one of challenges to speed up the slower adoption of 4G network. There is no denying that affordable devices will create a great impact on 4G plans for Indian customers. With affordability of 4G-enabled devices, the high smartphone penetration, demand for high-speed online content and inclination towards Internet-based services are going to push the 4G-network in Indian market.”

India is a diverse market with requirements from feature phone to smartphone. In India, 65% smartphones sold are below the Rs 10,000 price point. Affordability also completely depends on technology, brand & market situation. We experienced that to reach out to maximum number of people and gain market share, we need to capture market with affordable range of products and that’s why we launched V series and Y series in India with price range from 6k-20k said Mr. Alex Feng of VIVO mobiles.

Mr. Jerold, CEO Videocon Mobile Phones

Key role in Digital India

According to Mr. Devsare, ‘Digital’ is definitely the fastest growing advertising & marketing medium for the corporate. With 213 million mobile Internet users in India and 120 million smartphone users separately, digital and mobile advertising is the new hype for the marketers to enhance their brand visibility and appeal.

There is certainly a possibility that digital will emerge as one of the primary or even the sole medium of advertising and marketing for the upcoming and existing brands in the future. However, the Indian smartphone user demography is highly fragmented with advanced users forming only a small chunk of the overall market.

With an increased smartphone penetration in India, the ‘language problem’ has emerged as one of the key hurdles in the mobile ecosystem which is pushing back users from adopting mobile phones across cities. Thus, it is imperative to offer advanced smartphone solutions

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while being simple enough to be adopted intuitively by the user.

Also given the linguistic diversity of our country, we have introduced a range of devices supporting up to 21 Indian languages to encourage adoption. As a brand, Karbonn has also been very supportive of the Make in India strategy. We plan to manufacture around 700,000 to 1 million smartphones for the Karbonn brand initially out of the manufacturing facilities which will be set up in our country. We are planning to invest around Rs 800 crore over the next couple of years for manufacturing handsets locally including a Rs. 450 Cr. mobile manufacturing hub in Hyderabad.

Mr. S.S. Bassi said with proper launch and implementation of 4G, there will be better connectivity which will in turn provide greater access to Internet to all. This will further lead to digitization as the easy access to Internet will facilitate various targets of Digital India such as e-learning, especially in rural areas.

“Digital India is an ambitious initiative by the Government of India to ensure that the essential government services are made available to the population electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. The initiative envisages connecting the entire country with high-speed Internet networks. The delivery of all services under the Digital India initiative will be done on mobile phones.

Since the focus of Digital India is to digitally-enable the rural India, Swipe and other mobile communication device providers will have major role to play,” said Mr Gandhi of Swipe Technologies.

Mr. Shashin Devsare, Executive Director of Karbonn

According to Mr. Pereira the 4G LTE technology is expected to be a game changer in the coming years, bringing the next generation of mobile phone users in India. With 4G technology, more users will use social media, web browsing and live chat, thus creating a platform for Digital India to flourish and reach out in more sophisticated and speedy manner. With Internet consumption also continues to grow, the 4G network will push the Digital India program further to be a key driver to India’s growth in the IT and telecommunications sectors.

“4G spectrum will play an active role in Digital India, but depends on the government policies. As of now, smartphone plays an important role for making the digital environment as wireless connectivity has become an indispensable part of the life of the Indian consumers and especially amongst the youth said Mr. Alex Feng of VIVO mobiles.

Mr. Naveen Chopra, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone India

Expectations From Government

The Indian mobile industry is going through a phase of transformation and government cooperation is a must to sustain the phenomenal growth of this sector. A cut in the taxes on mobile phone brands of Indian origin will help the Indian phone makers to compete well with our international competitors.

“The government must introduce policies including tax holidays and interest subsidies to give a push to domestic handset manufacturing and increase the mobile phone user base in India. To establish India as a global power in international mobile market, the government needs to provide easy financing options for mobility goods like mobile phones, tablets, etc. The indigenous products will help in realizing goals like ‘Digital India’ & ‘Make in India’ and take the mobile and Internet revolution to mass consumers. The strong willingness and campaigns around such initiatives will help in developing a digital environment in the country. Additionally, there is an urgent need for establishment of a robust mobile design eco-system to enable and promote manufacturing and exports. With locally manufactured products, we expect to see billion hands using mobile phones for communicating and sharing data in coming years.” said Mr. Devsare.

According to Mr. S.S. Bassi “We expect BIS to be followed strictly to maintain the quality compliance and prevent non-quality products at bottom-low price from creating disturbance for genuine products and companies” According to Mr. Gandhi of Swipe the government’s focus is in the right direction as evident from the initiatives like Digital India, Make in India and Skill India.

The success of these – and many other – initiatives will depend largely on the availability of connectivity. We expect the government to be friendlier towards start-ups like Swipe.”

Government must ensure the stability of the 4G network and take care that the promises made by service providers translate to reality. Only then, people can enjoy the real data to act as a catalyst for the users in Tier 2 and 3 cities to experiment with 4G said Mr. Pereira of Videocon.

Mr Alex Feng, said, ” We expect to have timely information and support/guidance in order to implement it in a better way as we support Digital India campaign initiated by Indian government.”

Mobility January 2016

18

review

Power House

High capacity power banks

W

ith the advancement of time and technology, there has been a major improvement in the living standards of man. There has been a surge in the production of electronics to make lives better for users in every aspect. Phones have given way to smarter mobile devices and along with the mobile even the accessories have improved for the better. As we are always on the go, gadgets and devices have started becoming portable in the likes of mobile phones, iPad, iPhone, digital cameras, portable DVD, camcorders, MP4, MP3, PDA, GPS along with numerous other electronics that are commonly used. One of the common aspects of these electronics is that, they operate on batteries and chargers. At times, while travelling, you might face a situation when your battery has low charge and there is no plug point to fix your charger. You might feel helpless during these times as you cannot go ahead and buy a new battery because not only would it cost you a lot of

money, but you may not avail of a charger when you are in dire need of it.

So, what you need is a portable mobile charger that will keep your conversations and net browsing uninterrupted. The mobile power bank is a portable charger that not only solves the low battery problem, but it ensures that you never run out of it. This electronic device makes travelling much easier and reduces your tension even while your phone is running on low charge.

The Power bank device comes in higher powered variants, especially to suit the needs of the user. These days we have Mobile Power banks have high capacity and with the unit capacity of 10000mAh at times even more. These devices come in a small and compact structure, which is not only very attractive, but easy to carry as well. This device would bring your phone back to life.

Specs:

Ratings Design performance value for money over all 4.5

Mobility January 2016

CATZ PBCZ4-13000 CATZ introduced its 13000mAh Power Bank in India recently which includes a built-in flash light. The power bank measures 155x62x23mm, weighs 294 grams making it a bit huge for a 13000mAh power bank, compared to some of the power banks.The Power Bank has soft matte finish, It has four LED indicators on the front that glow in Blue color.These indicators show the remaining battery left when you are using it, and the remaining battery that needs to be charged when it is charging.

It also has a micro USB slot next to the button which takes in 5V/2A input. The LED light offers different levels of brightness. You can press the function button on

19

Ratings Design performance value for money over all 3.5

the side twice to turn on the LED light. The power bank doesn’t get heated even after hours of usage. It take about 5 to 6 hours to charge the power bank fully using a 5V/2A charger.

Instant and reliable power on the go • Dual USB charging ports • Charges smartphone and tablet at the same time • Flashlight with four levels of brightness • Environment and pocket friendly • Rechargeable up to 500 cycles • Smart four level LED display of remaining power • Overcharge and under voltage protection circuitry • Warranty : 1 Year Limited Verdict: With 13000mAh capacity this could be a good travel companion to take care about your all charging needs, and the LED light in this gives you an added advantage.

Price: Rs. 2999 Pros: Good Solid build quality, good design, don’t heat-up while charging Cons: Bulky , Priced bit higher

AXL LPB110 Power Bank Protable 10000 mAh Power up your smartphone/iPhone/MP3/Gaming Devices/ Camera anywhere, anytime with AXL LPB110 USB Portable Charger range, with a battery capacity of 10000 mAh . Available in black white & Red color options and contains Li-ion rechargeable battery with Fireproof Body . Being compact and light, this battery pack is easy to carry and use. Compact size and high capacity of 10000 mAh, built in LED lighting function. It is a very nice product in the way of looks and durability, comes without an adapter, works really great charges devices quite efficiently. the conversion rate is decent also. It has a pretty neat finish and looks premium with the led bars. but it takes a hell lot of time to get fully charged. In our test it took near about 10-11 hrs to get fully charged which is a hell lot of time, and becomes very annoying when you need to quick charge your power bank while travelling.

Verdict: With great design and finish this is a good looking power bank, whih looks little different and premium from other available in the market but priced bit higher.

Price: 2400/-

Specs: • 236 g • 14.6 x 1.8 x 7.6 cm • 10000 mAh rechargeable battery • Li-Polymer battery • 1 year warranty • Fire-proof plastic shell

Pros: Good design, Lightweight, Fireproof body Cons: Costly, takes too much time to charged.

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20

review

iFrogz Carbide Premium On ear headphone with an affordable price tag

O

n ear headphones feature much larger drivers than the in-ear type and use pads that sit directly on your ears. These tend to (but not exclusively) use closed cups, as their relatively small size makes them a good second choice as a travel pair if you don’t get on with IEMs. One issue with on-ear headphones, though, is that they’re often a bit picky about positioning.

Not all sets will make a good seal with your ear in every position, which can result in reduced sound quality if they’re not sitting right.

Comfort can be a problem, too.

Specs • Form Factor: Supraaural • Diaphragm: 1.6 in • Magnet Material: Neodymium • Weight: 317 • Body Material: Foam, Leather, Nylon and Plastic

bag. The angled jack also helps prevent accidental dislocation when you just have to dance. It is like wearing a cloud on your ears very light and comfy. Very small sound leakage as foam is super soft. Surprising great sound at all levels. Great bass and mid. Cord seems very good quality. It dose not offer you folding option so if you are in a long road trip or out for many days, you might feel little uneasy while carry around it in your neck all the time, even though it is very lightweight.

Features The iFrogz Carbide is a latest in this line up and the headphones feature 40mm neodymium drivers with ultra-soft, flat AeroFoam cushions and a wide AeroFoam headband, it also features Storage Clip cable management system keeps your cable in place during activities, and prevents tangles when not in use.

Performance Engineered for comfort, quality audio, and style, the Carbide headphones are designed to make a statement.

Their singlebutton, in-line remote/ microphone makes music and call management easy.

The unique Storage Clip holds your nylon cable in place while listening and helps prevent tangling when you toss your Carbides in a

Mobility January 2016

Ratings Design performance value for money over all

Verdict Overall, the Carbid is a very good package, gives you good ergonomics and great sound output. A decent buy for those who are looking for a good headphone with premium look and feel.

Price: Rs 3,499 Pros Design, sound quality, features Cons Non fold able

22

SPECIAL report

Best of

2016

L

ike every year, the entire personal technology industry assembles to show off the their latest ground breaking products in CES. Its is one of the places where companies showcased their latest and greatest. Everything from smartphones, laptops, cars, headphones and televisions is on display here in huge numbers. We at Mobility India tries to feature some of the best and talked about products of CES 2016 which are showcased in this week long Tech Carnival.

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S With the new Galaxy TabPro S, Samsung is throwing itself into the Windows 2-in-1 game ruled by the Surface series. This device comes with the magnetic keyboard dock which uses metal contacts instead of Bluetooth. There’s a 12.5in screen, 10 and a half hour battery life and an Intel Core M processor meaning a fan-less design.

LG gram 15 LG hasn’t always been known for its laptops but it’s made some major headway in the states bringing forth two lightweight 13- and 14-inch models. Now with the Gram 15, LG says it has introduced the world’s lightest 15.6-inch laptop and with the Gram 15 Weighing in at 0.98kg (2.16 pounds) - the same as its 14-inch notebook - LG is pretty much on the money. Inside is a Core i5 or i7 processor and up to 512GB SSD.

Casio WSD-F10 Android Wear is no longer just for tech brands.

Mechanical and digital watch-making companies are using the operating system to muscle their way into the smartwatch world.Well-known watch maker Casio has gone down the smartwatch route with the oddly named WSD-F10.

This is a circular screen device running Android Wear with a robust design aimed at those who love the outdoors.

It doesn’t have GPS but it is waterproof to 50m and can measure atmospheric pressure.

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23

Huawei Mate 8

Dell UltraSharp InfinityEdge

Huawei is all set to go more premium with its new Mate 8 all metal body. Inside the custom interface runs on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The Mate 8 packs a new Kirin 950 chipset, an impressive Sony-made 16-megapixel camera and an enormous 4,000mAh. And Huawei packed this into a slim, attractive package that makes its 6-inch screen very premium.

Dell unveiled a slew of new UltraSharp monitors, which is its branding for its high-end pro-level color accurate displays.

The star of the new lineup is the UP3017Q UltraSharp 30 Ultra HD 4K OLED monitor, the first Ultrasharp to use this kind of panel technology. The InfinityEdge monitors come with tiny 5.3- or 7.3mm borders respectively, 99 percent sRGB accuracy and four USB 3.0 ports. You can get a 23.8in model with a Full HD resolution or jump to 27in with QHD.

HP EliteBook Folio At 12.4mm, the EliteBook Folio is touted as the world’s thinnest and lightest business class notebook. Similar to the LG gram, it weighs less than a kilogram and offers a battery life up to 10 hours. There’s also USB-C and a 12.5in 4K display on board which can flip 180 degrees. The laptop is under 0.5 inches thick and is supposed to weigh less than 2.2 pounds. Physically, you’ll likely be reminded more of Dell’s XPS 13 than anything by Apple.

Fitbit Blaze Fitbit played an instrumental part in defining the wearables category, but now, it has to answer to the popular efforts from companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google and Pebble.It’s doing just that with the Fitbit Blaze, the company’s bold attempt at blurring the line between fitness tracker and smartwatch.

Although it looks like it, Fitbit maintains that the new Blaze is a tracker like its other products. However, it can connect to your phone over Bluetooth to provide notifications for things like calls and text messages. Either way, the Blaze is customisable with a range of straps and features a ‘PurePulse’ heart rate sensor but no built-in GPS.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet Lenovo going all suit and tie with its tablet doesn’t sound exciting but the ThinkPad Z1 Tablet offers a modular design.

You can bump the battery life to 15 hours, clip on a pico projector and HDMI port or add an Intel RealSense camera. It’s a rival to the Surface with a keyboard dock, Core-M processor, up to 1TB of storage and a 2560x 1440 IPS touchscreen.

Razer Blade Stealth Ultrabook Razer is known for its thin and light gaming notebooks, and the new 12.5-inch Blade Stealth is no exception. But in addition to being compact, it works with an external dock, granting gamers access to a desktop-class GPU along with amenities like Ethernet and four USB ports. Though Razer isn’t the first to attempt this sort of setup, the Blade Stealth is notable for eschewing proprietary connectors; instead, it uses Thunderbolt 3, a common standard that allows the dock to work with a wider range of PCs.

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channel focus

“Corning is continually looking for ways to improve Gorilla Glass and enhance the protection for devices” Mr. Amit Bansal, President, Corning India Technologies.

How your product and Brand made an impact in 2015?

We had yet another year of technological progression and brilliance at Corning Incorporated. Corning Gorilla Glass has been used on 4.5 Billion devices and 40 major brands since we launched the product in 2007. Gorilla Glass is the cover glass of choice for device manufacturers around the globe. Gorilla Glass has been featured as one of the key selling points by mobile device makers. Formed through Corning’s proprietary fusion draw process – Gorilla Glass’ exceptionally clean, smooth and sleek surface offers the perfect solution for touch devices.

In India, we collaborated with top mobile device manufacturers including Micromax, Lava and Intex adopting Gorilla Glass on their smartphones. For this, the company incubated a team in India to work closely with domestic OEMs.

Mobility January 2016

Another big achievement at the global level was expanded application of Gorilla Glass such as Gorilla Glass for Automotive and Architecture.

What are the key strategies that make that move a great success?

Our strength and belief lies in understanding customers’ needs and pain points and working on an optimised solution which enables technological advancement in cover glass market.

channel focus

what are the Major alliances that make this possible?

We have been collaborating with the leading mobile manufacturers like Samsung, Micromax, Nokia and Lava mobiles for Corning Gorilla Glass in order to enhance the protection of mobile devices.

It is the robust R&D infrastructure that allows us to experiment and constantly evolve the technological prowess. At Corning, we create an environment in research and development (R&D) that enables the best scientific minds in the world to create the innovations that form the foundation of our future. We continue to reinvest approximately 9% of our revenues into R&D, providing our scientists with the resources they need, to be successful. We thrive on change and have built a culture that enables us to remain at the forefront of the markets we serve, often working closely with our customers. Our scientists regularly share expertise across both materials and businesses, enabling us to dynamically allocate resources to the most promising opportunities.

Corning is continually looking for ways to improve Gorilla Glass and enhance the protection it helps provide to devices.

Despite the superior performance of Gorilla Glass, still the‘breakage’was identified as number one consumer complaint through Corning’s research in 2014. And we had our top scientists to perform thousands of hours of tests to figure out how and why breaks happen and then we developed Gorilla Glass 4 which is just as thin and light as previous versions but delivers dramatically improved drop performance. In laboratory tests on models and commercially available devices, Gorilla Glass 4 performs up to 2x better than competitive glass designs when dropped from one meter (slightly more than three feet) onto real-world rough surfaces such as asphalt and concrete.

As India’s smartphone market is expected to grow to 210M units in 2019 and become the second largest market after China (in terms of units), there is an immense smartphone cover glass opportunity for Corning in India.And we are expanding our Gorilla Glass applications into adjacent markets such as automotive, interior architecture where we’ve already seen some significant progress and opportunities.

Here are examples of our successful alliances with major brands.

Corning’s collaboration with Micromax Informatics Limited, India’s second largest smartphone brand is a proof of our commitment to provide constant and improved technology by delivering durable and damage resistance Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with Native 2 Resistance to Micromax smartphones.

Damage Another successful alliance that made news in 2015 was with OBI Worldphone for its newest flagship smartphone, the Obi Worldphone SF1. The Obi Worldphone SF1 featured a unique and eyecatching raised 5-inch display made of Corning Gorilla Glass 4, which is up to two times tougher than any competitive cover glass.

Also, Corning and Samsung have been conducting co-promotion to leverage the brand awareness of Gorilla Glass and Samsung’s leading devices. When Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy series, Galaxy S6 and S6 edge in March 2015, the company highlighted Gorilla Glass 4 as one of the key features saying that Gorilla Glass was adopted not only for front screen but also for back of the device. Corning’s tough, thin, and touch-friendly cover glass creates interfaces that are more durable, responsive, and pleasing to our senses.

can you Brief us About your progress so Far?

Corning Gorilla Glass has retained its leadership position in the cover glass market. Since its launch in 2007, Gorilla Glass has been the cover glass of choice for device manufacturers around the globe. More than 40 manufactures have adopted Gorilla Glass for their cover glass and have branded Gorilla Glass as a key selling feature. The number of mobile devices that have used Gorilla Glass has gone from 3 billion devices in late 2014 to 4.5 billion devices by late 2015.

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26

FEATURED

Emerging E-COMM Enabling the Traditional Brick And Mortar Retail Mr. Safdar Khan

Sr. Manager Marketing, Videocon Mobile Phones

I

ndia’s current internet user base is of 350 million, which is more than the total population of the US, and is expected to grow 500 million by 2017. This user base ironically forms the top strata of the society – SEC A, which is keeping Indian consumption story growing. This has brought a paradigm shift in retailing in India in a big way. Indian retail has evolved and kept pace with the technology from local baniya shop to organized retail now to online retail. “E-tailing” as it is known, is growing with a phenomenal rate. India’s overall retail industry is estimated at $600 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2020 and chunk of it is going to the emerging E-commerce, which is growing at an astronomical rate of more than 50% YoY. Q1-2015 saw seven Indian E-commerce companies have managed to crack a billion-dollar club - Flipkart, Snapdeal, InMobi, Quikr, OlaCabs, and Paytm.

One can now order groceries and book a home using E-commerce apps on his/her smartphone. With the increase in internet usage and especially the mobile and wireless internet usage e - commerce companies mainly through mobile apps are targeting the users with various offers and freebies. Many manufacturers also jumped the bandwagon by using the e-portals for exclusively launching and selling their products. These producers are using mass media instruments like Print (Newspapers, Magazines) and Electronic Media (TV & Internet) in a greater frequency

500Mn

Internet User base in India

E-Comm Growth Y-o-Y

50% 350Mn

Internet User base in India

Mobility January 2016

Indian Retail Market

US $ 600Bn

and volume to drive the customers to their products. Every other day we find our newspapers cluttered with front page ads and our popular TV channels whether it’s a General Entertainment or Sports or News airing the e- comm. offers.

This is in a sense also assisting traditional Brick and Mortar stores by making end users aware about the product and its embedded feature. These communications targeted at the senses of intended buyers driving them to purchase the goods or services offered. Many of them will then go to a retailer in the vicinity see the product, take a look and feel of the stuff, compares the pricing, bargains over it, gets retailers assurance and recommendation for the product and buys it from retail outlet itself.

Furthermore, E- com Portals allows a retailer/ Distributor to register and sell the products online, thus giving them another channel to liquidate their products. In a way it’s creating an SMART Retailer, who is omnipresent in the retail space, garnering the advantage of both the arena. This phenomenon is here to stay in India and with the advent of 4G and enhanced smartphone and internet usage, it’s going to have exponential growth. This is further fueled by availability of wireless internet in vast reaches of countryside and urban areas.

So, just relax and watch, it is evolving on your smartphone device as you read this article!!!

How E-comm Enabling the Traditional Brick and Mortar Retail 1. Customer Awareness- Extensive Use of MASS MEDIA 2. E-comm portals allows traditional retailers/distributors to register and sell their products online as well 3. Freebies n offers provided by E-comm portals and apps enticing more and more people to use smartphones

Date of Pub: 22nd Jan. 2016 | Postal Dt.: 27th & 28th of same Month/ Posted at NDPSO

R.N.I. No. DELENG/2004/14198

Postal Reg. No.: DL(S)-01/3442/2013-15