Mobility Monthly Magazine
March 2017
Issue 03
Volume 14
Pages 36
20
BEYOND TECHNOLOGY, BEYOND LIFESTYLE
www.mobilityindia.com
4
coNteNtS
16
Editor Chief Editor Associate Editor (Tech,) Asst. Editor Product Head Creative Head Acct. & Finance Marketing Manager Marketing Executives
: : : : : : : : :
Swapan Roy Manoj Jha Jayanta Ghosh E.J. Jawahardatham Anit Kumar Gautam Sandip Sarkar Tridip Dey Sujit Goswami, Pratap Biswas S. Dutt Raj Kumar
Circulation Manager Production
: :
16
System Manager
:
P. Biswas Ashish Ghosh Ashok Kumar Paul Ajay Biswas
20
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
EDITORIAL
6
NEWS
8
LAUNCHPAD
10
INTERACTION
14
Mr Sanjeev Bhardwaj, CMD, ERD Group
SPECIAL STORY Women Celebrities: Portray Sensuous as well as strong Roles for Brands
SUCCESS STORY Zopo aims to be one of the top smart phone brands in India
SPECIAL REPORT MWC
22
Best of Mobile World Congress 2017
REPORT
26
Indian Mobile Handset Market Heads to Create a ‘Do or Die’ Moment in 2017
CHANNEL FOCUS
28
“Innovative Vendors can survive and thrive in the Mobility industry”
INTERVIEW
30
Gaurav Nigam, Head – Product, Lava International
IN FOCUS
32
E-BAK Brand is Reputed for Top-Class Mobile Accessories
FACE TO FACE Chiranjib Sarkar, National Sales Head, Ziox Mobiles
34
redg.off.: 38-B / 56 Block, C. R. Park, New Delhi-110019 (India). Branch Office: Mumbai: E-mail: roy@mobilityindia.com Kolkata: 105/19, Dum Dum Road, Sil Colony, Kolkata-74 Contact: 09891666264, 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). Printed at Pushpak Printer, C-96, Okhla Industrial Area-I, New Delhi-20. Retail selling price of a magazine copy Rs. 20/-. Annual subscription Rs. 240. Editor
:
edit@mobilityindia.com roy@ mobilityindia.com
Marketing
:
tridip@mobilityindia.com marketing@mobilityindia.com
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
Info
:
info@mobilityindia.com
Subscribe
:
subscription@ mobilityindia.com
6
eDitorial
Welcome to 3rd Mobility Excellence Awards 2017 Ceremony Dear Readers, I wish this year’s Holi festival will bring new colors into your life along with new successes and milestones. We are excited to inform you all that we are conducting our Panel Discussion & 3rd Mobility Excellence Awards Night 2017. This year’s value addition to the event is the Panel Discussion, which will be followed by the Awards Night ceremony. In the Panel Discussion, several eminent speakers will speak on important factors and developments that are set to influence the mobility industry, which include BIS, GST, Make in India, Digital India, etc and the audience includes many prominent Distributors and Partners. This month’s issue also includes the ME (Mobility Product) Supplement which gives the list of products that were nominated by different brands for this year’s awards and the winners.
Swapan Roy roymobility@gmail.com
The Special Story of this month covers the growing influence of Women Brand Ambassadors in the Indian mobility industry which was earlier the fortress of males. This is to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. We, at Mobility, encourage women towards many more great achievements and successes. I wish you a Happy Holi once again.
Editor’s Choice
Superfast 4G intex aqua Strong 5.1+ Smartphone Aqua Strong 5.1+ allows users to experience superfast download speeds and enjoy the fun of the Internet in the most seamless manner. Designed with top class dynamic display screen, improved camera and the ability to download large files at super-fast 4G speed, the Aqua Strong 5.1+ also comes equipped with a varied range of Value Added Services (VAS) and features which have been designed to offer interesting utility and entertainment services. The Aqua Strong 5.1+ 4G-VoLTE smart phone, sports a 5-inch FWVGA display that brings photos and videos alive with its display.
www.mobilityindia.com
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
twitter.com/mobilitymag
facebook.com/mobilityindia2004
edit@mobilityindia.com
8
NeWS
INTEX SMART WORLD LAUNCHES FREE RETAIL TRAINING FOR YOUTH
In sync with the Government’s Skill India initiative, Intex’s branded retail stores – Intex Smart World – launched a panIndia Skill Training campaign aimed at providing youth with basic training to join the fast growing organised retail sector. This noble initiative of Skilling India kick-started from Raipur, the capital city of one of the fastest growing states, Chhattisgarh. This initiative is named as “Intex Skill Development Program For Youth”. The target group will be young boys and girls in the age-group of 18 yrs to 30 yrs with basic minimum qualification being 12th pass. Intex Smart World will provide the training through in-house trainers. After the completion of the program, participants will get certificates of accomplishment.
INTEX TECHNOLOGIES APPOINTS S.P. SUBRAMANIAN AS AVP – SALES (MOBILE)
In line with the Company’s continued effort to strengthen and professionalize its management for achieving accelerated growth and business excellence, Intex Technologies, one of the leading consumer electronics major, has appointed S.P. Subramanian as Assistant Vice President – Sales (Mobile) to further strengthen its mobile business. In his new role, S.P. Subramanian will be handling sales of Intex’s mobile division nationally. Extending a warm welcome to Mr. Subramanian, Narendra Bansal, CMD, Intex Technologies, said, “I am delighted to welcome Mr. Subramanian into his new role as AVP – Sales for mobile division. Mr. Subramanian brings with him nearly 25 years of rich experience in the field Telecom – Service Provider, Telecom – Mobile Devices, FMCG etc. He has worked with organizations like MPS Telecom (HTC Mobiles), LAVA International Limited and MTS (Sistema Shyam) in the past. Mr. Subramanian has done his B.Sc. from St. John’s College and an Executive Program in Management from IIM Calcutta.
IESA EXPANDING FOOTPRINT LAUNCHES HYDERABAD CHAPTER
India Electronics and Semiconductor Association [IESA] the premier trade body representing the Indian Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) industry, announced the launch of their Hyderabad Chapter. The key objective of setting up an office in Hyderabad is to widen the eco-system, acquire new members and strengthen the supply chain in the region. This move will boost the electronics, hardware and semiconductor startups and firms in the state with the required support and information. There will also be a large thrust on the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing too.Telangana contributes to 6% of the electronics production in the country and aims to reach a revenue of more than $10Bn and provide employment to 1.75L citizens. The Telangana Government is planning to make Hyderabad as the hub of ESDM and is pursuing to attract investments into the two ESDM clusters at e-City Manufacturing Cluster and Maheshwaram Science Park.
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
DJI AND SEAGATE ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE DATA SOLUTIONS FOR THE UAV ECOSYSTEM
DJI, the world’s leading manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and Seagate Technology plc (STX), a world leader in storage solutions, Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show announced a strategic partnership to work jointly to solve the data demands of UAV users. As drone cameras gain resolution and drone flight times grow longer, DJI and Seagate are focusing their efforts to securely and efficiently store, manage, download and share the hundreds of gigabytes of data that can be generated from a single drone mission.
E-COMMERCE STARTUP ANCHANTO APPOINTS VISHAL DESAI AS MARKETING DIRECTOR
Global e-commerce selling and logistic platform provider Anchanto announced the appointment of Vishal Desai as Director of Marketing. The appointment is in line with the company’s plan to strengthen its leadership team and to further expand its services in Asia, strongly supported through marketing practices. Mr. Vishal, an Alliance Manchester Business School, UK alumnus, comes with over 11 years of experience in different marketing functions spanning key areas such as brand positioning, lead generation, Inbound and content marketing. Prior to his appointment at Anchanto, he was associated with RS Components, the global distributor of Electronic, Electrical & Industrial components in the UK. He also had a short stint at Indsutrybuying, one of the leading B2B ecommerce start-up based in India as Head of OEM marketing & Alliances.
CISCO MOBILE VNI FORECASTS 7-FOLD INCREASE IN GLOBAL MOBILE DATA TRAFFIC IN 2016-21
By 2021, more members of the global population will be using mobile phones (5.5 billion) than bank accounts (5.4 billion), running water (5.3 billion), or landlines (2.9 billion), according to the 11th annual Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast (2016 to 2021). Strong growth in mobile users, smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) connections as well as network speed improvements and mobile video consumption are projected to increase mobile data traffic seven-fold over the next five years. The explosion of mobile applications and adoption of mobile connectivity by end users is fueling the growth of 4G, soon to be followed by 5G growth. Cisco and other industry experts anticipate largescale deployments of 5G infrastructures to begin by 2020.
NeWS
HUAWEI JUMPS TO NO. 40 IN THE LIST OF THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS
Huawei advanced to become the world’s 40th most valuable brand in 2017, up seven places from its position a year ago, according to the ‘Global 500 2017 world’s most valuable brands’ list. In its annual ranking, British brand valuation firm Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation firm, valued the Huawei brand at $25.23 billion, up 28% from the previous year. The rate estimates the theoretical cost of utilizing a brand, based on the assumption that the brand is not already owned. The evaluation also included a thorough analysis of public awareness, brand loyalty, promotional events, marketing investment, employee satisfaction and corporate reputation. Brand Finance also took into account the brand’s future anticipated income.
LENOVO MOBILE BUSINESS GROUP APPOINTS SUDHIN MATHUR AS MANAGING DIRECTOR, MOTOROLA MOBILITY
Lenovo Mobile Business Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Sudhin Mathur as the Managing Director – Motorola Mobility India Pvt Limited. He has been inducted as a full-time director on the Motorola Mobility Board in India and has taken over as MD, Motorola Mobility India. Sudhin will also continue to serve the role of Executive Director for Lenovo MBG India. Sudhin has been running the operations for Lenovo MBG in India since its inception in the country four years ago and has been instrumental in leading the seamless integration of Motorola and Lenovo mobile businesses. Under his leadership, the brand notched the No. 2* position by both value and volume in this cluttered and competitive market, rising from the 31st position in the year it entered the market.
NUBIA SELECTS B2X AS CUSTOMER CARE PARTNER
International smartphone maker Nubia Technology has selected B2X as its strategic customer care partner for India. B2X, the leading technology-enabled provider of customer care services for mobile devices and consumer electronics, operates an extensive network of SMARTBAR walk-in service centers throughout the Indian market that are utilized by some of the world’s leading mobile brands such as Apple, Lenovo, OnePlus, Samsung and Xiaomi. Nubia and B2X will roll out an industry-leading service offering across India through walk-in service centers owned and operated by B2X. Highly qualified support experts will provide face-to-face support for people using Nubia smartphones as well as repair services for in-warranty and outof-warranty situations. Every B2X service center is based on SMARTBAR, one of the most innovative in-store customer care solutions for mobile devices and consumer electronics.
GIONEE INAUGURATES ITS FIRST PREMIUM EXCLUSIVE SERVICE CENTRE IN JAIPUR
Leading global smartphone brand Gionee inaugurated its First Premium Exclusive service center in Jaipur . The center will offer end to end comprehensive customer service, a premium experience and ambience, product experience zones, regular service camps, varied range of accessories and brand resonance. Gionee currently has 460 exclusive service centers across India, which will go upto 650 by end of 2017. The First Premium Exclusive service center was inaugurated by ace TV and film personality, Anita Hassanandani along with Deepika Singh, Director-Communications and Hardeep Singh Johar, Regional Director – Gionee India.
AINDRITA RAY UNVEILS SAMSUNG GALAXY C9 PRO AT SANGEETHA MOBILES
The leading actress Aindrita Ray unveiled the Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro at Sangeetha Mobiles. Sangeetha Mobiles being the largest retail partner of Samsung Mobiles served as the platform for the launch of its highperformance next generation smartphone. Sangeetha Mobiles Pvt Ltd. is India’s leading multi-brand retailer of mobile handsets. Sangeetha has been a pioneer in introducing many lifestyle products that have not only defined different eras but also revolutionised the retail sector with a host of marketing innovations.Sangeetha Mobiles sells 1.4 million phones every year and it is one of the largest retail partner of Samsung mobiles in India. Sangeetha has 12 million happy customers with its 350 stores present across the country. The huge customer base can be credited to Sangeetha’s innovative and customer centric initiatives.
XIAOMI ANNOUNCES ITS OWN CHIPSET “SURGE S1”
Xiaomi announced Surge S1, the company’s first in-house chipset, marking a major milestone in the development of the seven year-old consumer technology company. With the launch of Surge S1, Xiaomi becomes only the fourth smartphone manufacturer in the world to create a chipset that has been designed and developed in- house. Alongside Surge S1, the company announced its newest smartphone Mi 5C, which is powered by the Surge S1 chipset. As Xiaomi’s first in-house chipset, Surge S1 uses a high-performance octa-core ARM Cortex- A53 processor with a big.LITTLE design, incorporating four 2.2GHz cores and four 1.4Ghz cores, achieving a balance between performance and power efficiency. In the Geekbench benchmark, Surge S1 outperformed other chipsets in its range such as Snapdragon 625. With an integrated Mali T-860 MP4 GPU, superb graphics performance in gaming and 4K video is made possible while using up to 40 percent less power than the lastgeneration Mali GPU.
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
9
10
laUNcHpaD
SAMSUNG INTRODUCES ALL NEW GALAXY A7 & GALAXY A5
Samsung launched the 5.7-inch Galaxy A7 and the 5.2-inch Galaxy A5, further taking forward the legacy of the highly successful Galaxy A series, 2016. The Galaxy
A (2017) comes with Samsung’s modern and innovative design and technology, giving consumers ultimate convenience to express their individuality with powerful performance. While the curved glass and metal body creates a harmonious premium design, the new dual-SIM Galaxy A series offers water and dust resistance, enhanced camera features and fingerprint scanner. “The latest Galaxy A (2017) series is a testament to our commitment. We have integrated our consumers’ feedback on our previous models along with our unique design approach and features, to give an added performance and premium experience to the users.”
FOX MOBILES LAUNCHES ‘MINI 1’
Fox Mobiles, a company known for manufacturing reliable, durable and purpose built feature phones, today announced the launch of ‘mini1’. Coupled with high quality durable components and premium super slim design this phone emphasizes that does not need to be big in order to be worthy. “Smartphone market is booming across the globe. On a daily basis, we witness innovative advancements happening in this segment in order to elevate the user experience.
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
CLOUDWALKER LAUNCHES CLOUD TV
CloudWalker Streaming Technologies, a tech start-up creating digital ecosystems for large format screens directly through smart TV or through conversion of existing TVs into smart TVs, is launching what can be described as ‘The Smartest Smart TV’ ever, the Cloud TV. CloudWalker developed its own User Interface powered by a CDE (Content Discovery Engine) which curates digital content available on the internet on Free, Premium or Freemium basis and also helps discover Apps that can be viewed on TV. Armed with a unique UI which offers “Screen-Shift” method to toggle between Live TV and Digital TV, CLOUDWALKER ultimately aims to enable every home to enjoy digital content on their TV. Available in Curved & Flat models with 4K UHD, Full HD & HD resolution, the Cloud TVs have been designed to offer digital content directly on televisions without the customer having to go through changing ports or cumbersome menus. The all-rounder Cloud TV will be exclusively available for purchase on Flipkart.
ZOPO MOBILE TO SHAKE INDIAN SMARTPHONE MARKET WITH FLASH X PLUS
ZOPO Mobile launches Flash X Plus with an elegant design, exotic applications and impressive features targeting middle and high end 4G Smartphone users. This will be the company’s first launch under theFlash Series, which will be held in March 2017, exclusive for India. “The new Flash X Plus, pursuit of beauty is for the stylish & camera crazy India youth. It comes with a slim metal body weighting only 160g and is built on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It showcases a 13MP Sony camera with a dual LED Flash that commits to provide superb clarity with high light sensitivity, even in dark environments. The 8MP front camera comes with a moonlight screen flash and is the first in the world to have a 90 degree wide angle to click panorama like selfies. It also has an enhanced face beauty option to enhance the beauty aspects of a selfie. This exclusive handset has the world’s fastest fingerprint scanner with a response time of 0.16s,” revealed Sahib Bhatia, Operation Head ZOPO Mobile.
LG LAUNCHED ITS K10 2017 SMARTPHONE FEATURING A WITH SPECIAL PANIC BUTTON
The smartphone is priced at Rs 13,990 and sports best-inclass 5.3-inch HD In-cell Touch Display which, according to LG, will deliver a superb viewing experience indoors or out. A curved metallic frame with 2.5 D curved glass gives the device a solid feel. The device is powered by 1.5GHz octacore MediaTek MT6750 SoC coupled with 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal memory and can be expanded up to 2TB. 4GVoLTE “We are consistently working on initiatives to create a safe and conducive environment for citizens of the country through technological excellence. The smartphone also supports VoLTE and ViLTE in terms of connectivity.The device measures 148.7×75.2×7.9mm, and weighs in at 142 grams and comes with OTG support. It will be available on retail stores from February 23 in Black, Gold, and Titanium colour variants.
HYPERX ALLOY FPSGAMING KEYBOARD LAUNCHED IN INDIA
HyperX, announced the launch of HyperX ALLOY FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. This gaming keyboard will be exclusively available on Amazon India and later be made available in all major stores across India at a M R P of INR 8,999/The fullsize mechanical gaming keyboard has a space-saving layout allowing gamers to maximize desktop real estate for FPS mouse movement. The HyperX ALLOY FPS keyboard features Cherry MX Blue Mechanical switches to provide the tactile feedback and performance to support extreme gameplay and enable players to be the best gamers possible. Built with a solid steel alloy frame, the HyperX ALLOY FPS keyboard features Cherry MX Blue Mechanical switches, HyperX red LED backlighting and six present LED modes – including custom mode.
TP-LINK POCKET RANGE EXTENDER TL-WA820RE
Technology keeps advancing and as it advance we see it is shrinking in size, from era where a computer would have consumed space of a complete house to now where it slides in your backpack, Technology is getting Mini b u t Mighty and TP-Link has done same in field of Wireless Range Extenders. Before telling you detail about the product, let’s give you a brief scenario how this TL-WA820RE can change your travel experience completely, ever faced a dilemma: where you have reached your Hotel Room but the Wi-Fi provided by Hotel is not reaching every corner of Room?
12
laUNcHpaD
HUAWEI ANNOUNCED THE P10 AND P10 PLUS
Huawei launched the HUAWEI P10 and HUAWEI P10 Plus. The much-anticipated additions to the P Series are a combination of beautiful hardware and the
latest advances in software. Even more, the smartphones showcase striking colors and finishes, and introduce new Leica front and back cameras with cutting-edge portrait features to make every shot a cover shot. In addition to the HUAWEI P10 and HUAWEI P10 Plus, Huawei unveiled its second-edition smartwatch, the HUAWEI WATCH 2 and Porsche Design HUAWEI Smartwatch. The 4G sports wearable combines innovative technology with authentic craftsmanship, and features an athletic and stylish lightweight design.
MICROMAX STRENGTHENS ITS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS PORTFOLIO INTRODUCES A NEW RANGE OF AIR CONDITIONERS
Reinforcing its vision to be a leading consumer electronics company, Micromax Informatics, India’s leading
mobile brand, today introduced a new range of Air conditioners, to strengthen its presence in the AC market. This will be the first year to see a complete line-up of ACs from Micromax, after it successfully introduced ACs as a pilot project last year in June 2016. The range comprises of 07 split ACs and 01 Window AC right at the onset of the peak summer season in India. MoBilitY MarcH 2017
INTEX LAUNCHES ITS LIONS SERIES 2.0 WITH AQUA LIONS 4G
Bingo Technologies has announced the launch of its first Made in India smart VR Box – the Bingo V-200 VR Box. The V-200 offers a rich, immersive experience with 360-degree view field, taking movie viewing and playing games to a superior level. Featuring an adjustable pupil distance mechanism, the V-200 allows you to slightly adjust the position of the spherical resin lenses by moving the button; providing a comfortable viewing experience to different consumers. The cutting edge optical lens made with 42 mm Aspheric, high transmittance NanoCoating Technology – reduces glare, heightens brightness level and prevents distortions and viewing fatigue. Weighing just 414 gms, the Bingo V-200 VR Box is extremely lightweight. A real treat for movie buffs and gamers, who now need not worry about extended sessions. Priced at Rs. 649, the Bingo V200 VR Box is available in black and white mixed color combination.
EVIDSON LAUNCHES AUDIOWEAR Z4 INEAR HEADPHONES
Evidson Audio, the Kerala based audio electronics start up, have introduced their latest offering in the form of audiowear Z4 priced at Rs 1799. Audiowear Z4 utilizes the top of the line dynamic transducer with titanium diaphragm. Unlike typical dynamic transducer, this combination delivers perfect transient response while retaining a tight and well-balanced acoustics. “Audiowear Z4 is built for music lovers who crave for well balanced acoustics. They are light weight, offer premium quality audio, comfortable on the ears and have sturdy exteriors. We are really excited about Z4. This product will enhance the customer experience of listening to music on mobile devices. We at Evidson are committed to provide high quality ‘Made in India’ products to our Indian customers and beyond,” said Sachin Siraj, head of business development at Evidson Audio, at Bangalore.
ZIOX MOBILES ANNOUNCES THUNDER MEGA WITH 4000 MAH BATTERY & POWER BANK FUNCTION
Ziox Mobiles, under the aegis of Sun Airvoice Private Limited, announces the launch of its Big Battery ‘Thunder Mega’ feature phone with thunderous 4000mAh battery that promises upto 50 hrs of talk time along with 1300hrs of standby. Apart from big battery this phone can also charge other phone with OTG Cable. With the latest offerings, Ziox Mobiles aims to empower the lives of consumers with the latest in technology at the best budgeted prices. The phone is paired with SOS button for safety of Women & senior citizens along with 4 LED Torch, Wireless FM and a Mobile Tracker keeping the device available and in use all the time. The smart and budget – friendly Thunder Mega feature phone is available in the combination of Black + Red, Black + Grey, Black + Orange colors at an affordable price of Rs.1,803 across the leading retail and e-tail stores in India.
ZEBRONICS LAUNCHES ITS ADVANCED ‘ZEB – FIT 500’
Zebronics India launches its advanced Smart band ‘ZEB–FIT500’ with Heart Rate Monitor, an optimal way to burn your calories and improve your workouts. The
Heart Rate sensor supports both Automatic and manual mode. The automatic mode takes the heart rate data in every 5 minutes and you can view the heart rate data graph on the Mobile Phone application. The sensor also works dynamically, means even when you are running or walking it will keep on taking the heart rate data. An ideal choice for anyone who wants to monitor heart rate while working out.
PORTRONICS ANNOUNCES ‘SOUND SLICK’ PORTABLE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER
Portronics has launched ‘Sound Slick’ – a portable Bluetooth sound bar with powerful 30W output for highly best quality audio experience, both for dialogues and music in your favorite TV shows or movies or music videos. Sound Slick is a single piece sound system, loaded with various connec-
tivity options like Bluetooth 4.0, USB, AUX IN and AUX OUT. This allows you to listen to your favorite music from TV, smartphone, mp2 player, etc making it a complete portable sound bar. Sound Slick wireless sound bar has a compact, sleek and stylish body and it can be perfectly placed almost anywhere or just simply below the TV.
iNterVieW
14
ERD is known for high-quality, affordable prices, ethical practices and patriotic approach ERD Group has a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture products under strict quality control standards. Every manufacturing process is well institutionalized and equipped with precise testing instruments to control the production and product quality. Every component is screened and tested to ensure 100% quality. Sanjeev adds, “Earlier a lot of mobile accessories were sold in grey markets, many times without warranty and without bill. Then came the PM’s demonetization which gave a big blow to the grey players. Now the grey market is decreasing. Demonetization has changed the way people perceive the way business should be done. We mostly deal in cheque or digital transactions with our partners. We thought
ERD’s products are known for best quality at affordable prices, supported by good service. Our standards are well-known and anyone can check in the market about our quality and reputation Mr Sanjeev Bhardwaj CMD, ERD Group
E
it is our moral responsibility to educate those partners who have been operating in grey, how digital or cashless transactions are good for them, good for the economy, good for the country as a whole and also good for the industry. So we
RD Group, established in 1997, manufactures and
have been conducting roadshows & dealer meets to educate
markets various products, under the brand name ‘ERD’,
people on the importance of using digital transactions. We
which includes mobile phone batteries, travel chargers, car
are also telling them how we can help them in getting TIN so
chargers, power banks, USB cables, universal battery char-
that they can do business in white. We also started what-
gers, LED lights, CCTV power supplies, etc.
sapp messages to further this objective.”
In an interaction with Mobility magazine, Mr Sanjeev
To manufacture in bulk, the company has a complete
Bhardwaj, CMD, ERD Group, shares, “ERD’s products are
infrastructure in New Delhi, Noida & Parwanoo (HP), such as
known for best quality at affordable prices, supported by
in-house Auto Insertion Machine, SMT Line, Wave-Soldering
good service. Our standards are well-known and anyone
facility, Cabinet Molding, Lead Molding, Automated Convey-
can check in the market about our quality and reputation.
or System, Automatic Belt Conveyor, Packing Machines, etc.
We develop products as per the needs of the market. Compe-
Sanjeev believes, “The government’s initiative Make in
tition is not a problem for us as we always stay ahead of the
India is also very good for the country. It will provide employ-
competition and we always welcome healthy competition
ment to millions of Indians while preventing the flight of
from others which will ultimately lead to better quality and
foreign currency abroad. ERD has been manufacturing in
affordable prices in the market.”
India even before the government launched Make in India
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
initiative. Further, all our products are BIS certified. We have
other electronic devices; for domestic as well international
been in the electronics manufacturing in India since 1997.”
markets,at very affordable prices.
ERD’s vision is to emerge as the largest Solution Provider
Regarding their channel policy and initiatives, Sanjeev
for energy-efficient mobileaccessories, LED lighting prod-
comments, “We have a wide and strong channel network
ucts and Switch Mode Power Supplies for CCTV Camera &
across India. We treat our partners like family members and want them to grow with us and believe that their growth is
The government’s initiative Make in India is also very good for the country. It will provide employment to millions of Indians while preventing the flight of foreign currency abroad. ERD has been manufacturing in India even before the government launched Make in India initiative. Further, all our products are BIS certified. We have been in the electronics manufacturing in India since 1997
our growth. We always give our partners good training, give them market feedback and also tell them what is right and wrong, so that they can do business efficiently in a way that meets the customers’ needs. During ERD events we tell them about our new products.” ERD’s products are manufactured using fine quality raw material procured from recognized vendors under the supervision of experienced professionals. Their range of electronic products is quality-tested before delivery to ensure that they are flawless and are free from any defect. The strengths which differentiateERD from others include
16
Special StorY
The adoption of women celebrities by Indian advertising agencies has experienced a tremendous increase in the last 15 years. Women Celebrity advertisement is considered as an effective communication strategy between the marketer and consumers. A good number of companies have adopted this strategy as an effective tool to penetrate the product in to the different segment of the market.
E
ndorsing brands of the products through a well known personality has become very prominent these days as they sort out the problem of over communication, provides instant recognition and transfers their goodwill to the brand. Earlier this exercise was exclusively performed within the domain of models but with the advent of celebrities in Hindi movies and Sports arena since the late nineteenth century they ventured out into their bastion. Today the celebrities are popular and well followed by consumers. Thus, marketers tend to instantly enlist bankable celebrities to pitch their particular products. A celebrity with a positive and credible image can help capture consumers’ attention to a brand so that his ideal attributes could be linked and related to the product. Without a doubt, celebrity branding is a significant game of money and power. Effectiveness of celebrity brands may not solely depend on the popularity personalities. In many cases, less popular celebrities become more identified with the brands they promote. Marketing experts think the celebrity has to be identified with specific attributes that could be easily related to a brand to ensure successful celebrity
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
branding. Not all celebrities could be ideal brand ambassadors. There should be obvious power to sell a brand. Marketers should carefully study consumers’ perceptions before celebrities are hired to link with a brand. A celebrity should also be identified with a brand for quite some time before consumers easily associate the two. In order to pamper the consumer a celebrity is deployed to transmit credibility and inspirational values to a brand in alignment with the product. There should be certain compatibility between the brand ambassador and the brand personality like celebrity, popularity, availability, physical attractiveness and their profession in consonance with the product. It is indispensable that creativity should underlie while using celebrity endorsement otherwise it may over power and overshadow the brand popularly known as vampire effect. Here are the most successful celebrity brands of this generation. Take note that most of these icons could easily be associated with the brands and products they endorse or sell.
Special StorY
These commercials appear during the breaks taken during the program so automatically people watch them while waiting for their programs to continue. The brands pay high amounts to the channels for showing their advertisements on the televisions. Advertisement is one of the major weapons used by various national as well as international brands to gain popularity for their products. Especially the television commercials are more attention-seeking as most of the population spends at least some of their time watching television. Women have many roles to play in her lifetime, some of them, and also the most important ones, being a mother, a wife, a daughter etc. Women, in the old times, were used in advertisements to portray delicacy and tenderness. Even in the movies, they were portrayed to be delicate and very soft by heart so they were basically included in the advertisement of brands of washing powders, talcum powders etc. For example, Nirma, a famous Indian brand of washing powder, has been including only women in their advertisements since its advent, as in India an ideal women is considered to do all household work, including washing clothes. With time, home-makers i.e. women started being included in the advertisement of the brands of household appliances, utensils, feminine talcum powders etc. Hawkins, the brand of Indian pressure cooker has been portraying women as a mother as well as a wife in its commercials. As the food cooked by a mother is considered to be the tastiest food in Indian society (arguably for the love and care put in), and when the mother is unable to do so, the wife gets into the role. Today, women are not just a symbol of delicacy and tenderness; they portray sensuous as well as strong roles on the television. Women are also used to increase glamour in the advertisements. Brands like Axe and Addiction (Deodorants) include women in their commercials to make their commercials sensational and tempting. Women get attracted to the masculine fragrances in these ads, so these ads appear quite appealing to the youth. Next, women are also seen in the ads of scooties and cars, sometimes to increase the glamour and sometimes to portray girl-power. Pleasure, an Indian scooty brand has its tagline as ‘Why should boys have all the fun!’ Here women are used to show that they are no less than men. Upon the dawn of enlightenment, women have come to play strong roles in advertisements and not just objects of desire. But sadly, the latter part of it refuses to whither. Women can also be seen in the ads of condoms, attracting men towards themselves. In telling about the significance of using protection, the advertisers serve a dual purpose — glamour and deliverance of a crucial message! Women can be seen in almost all type of ads today, be it feminine, be it strong, be it delicate: they fit into all kind of roles and possess the potential to portray in perfectly! All in all, it’s safe to say that the world of advertisement is incomplete without women! Celebrity endorsement if used effectively will make the brand standout from the crowd, galvanize brand recall by escalating Unique Selling Proposition and facilitate instant awareness. Hence, before choosing a celebrity as the brand ambassador the company should think that their reputation may derogate the product and the novelty of the product gets diluted if he /she is engaged in too many advertisements. For example, Oppo is a Chinese brand that has launched its mobile phones in India. Intelligence, to reach
Today, women are not just a symbol of delicacy and tenderness; they portray sensuous as well as strong roles on the television. Women are also used to increase glamour in the advertisements the masses and create an impression on the users’ minds the brand chose the top celebrities like Hrithik & Sonam Kapoor for its TVC. Not only has this, but following good marketing strategy now the brand associated with one of the biggest e-commerce company Flipkart.com Kareena is associated with iBall Andi for quite a long now. The brand is doing quite a nice job these days and association of the big celebs like Kareena for mobiles and Hrithik for tabs have helped it in attracting the buyers a lot. ASUS has also appointed Bollywood actress, Sonakshi Sinha as it’s first-ever brand ambassador in India. Sonakshi is a part of ASUS’ digital campaign, #LiveUnplugged and has launched ASUS’ new smartphone, Zenfone Max through a live streaming event in India. Honor, the e-brand from Huawei, has signed up Saina Nehwal as its India brand ambassador. The smartphone manufacturer has signed a long-term pact with the Olympic medalist to endorse its Honor range of smartphones. The partnership with Nehwal coincides with Honor’s next phase of growth in India, as the e-brand aims to significantly strengthen its market share in India. Chaze is another new entrant in the Indian mobile market. While it promises to bring various new models with smart phone features to the market, they choose Sunny Leone to endorse the brand. Pretty intriguing choice! Finally Celebrity endorsement if used effectively will make the brand standout from the crowd, galvanize brand recall by escalating Unique Selling Proposition and facilitate instant awareness. Celebrity endorsements pull in hundreds of Corers every year, and are widely preferred by marketers to promote their products. It is considered as one of the powerful tools adopted by the mobile companies to consolidate their brand in the crowded market place. Different types of celebrities are used as endorsers in marketing campaigns. Most of the celebrities are from the film and sports arena as their popularity extends to relatively wider segment of the population.
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
17
20
SUcceSS StorY
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
SUcceSS StorY
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
21
Special report MWC
special report MWC
Special report MWC
special report MWC
26
report
WITH MAJOR KNOCK OFFS, RISING COMPETITION, INDIAN MoBile HaNDSet MarKet HeaDS to create a ‘Do or Die’ MoMeNt iN 2017 According to CMR’s India Annual Mobile Handset Market Review, the market recorded a 22% rise in revenues at INR 1,359,975 million in CY 2016 as against INR 1,117,571 million in CY 2015.
S
amsung garnered 33% market share during the year with its revenues standing at INR 453,713 million, followed by Apple (8%) and Lenovo (7%) with INR 112,975 million and INR 99,806 million revenues, respectively. The 4G revenues of the industry increased by over 100% to INR 992,74 million in CY 2016, while 3G declined by about 60% to INR 165,978 million Scope of Feature Phones: CMR predicts that this year, the buzz would be around making the feature phones smarter with upgraded cameras and introduction of new features. The 4G-capable feature phone is, however, going to cannibalize the below INR 5K Smartphone market. Although, the revenues from feature phones constitute a very small chunk of around 14%, in terms of volume they hold about 57% of the market. Overall, there’s a scope to play around feature phones and brands like itel, Zen and Ziox would get aggressive in this space. Technology: In terms of technology, 4G is going to be synonyms to smartphones. Feature phones would be here to support the voice-centric market. In CY 2016, 4G constituted about 69% of total smartphone shipments, while 3G was 29%. In CY 2017, 4G is all set to cover near 100% of Smartphones.
China vs India Vendors: The war between MILK (Micromax, Intex, Lava, Karbonn) and LOVE (Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi) brands is going to be aggressive. In CY 2016, in terms of volume the total market share of MILK brands stood at 35%, while for LOVE it was at 10%. However, in terms of value, LOVE brands managed to beat MILK, with the combined revenue of former standing at 22% as against 17% of latter. Indian brands need to brace themselves up for a terrific war against the Chinese players.
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
Price Bands: The Indian players would look forward to INR 6K-INR 10K Smartphone market, where they will primarily fight it out with Xiaomi and Lenovo, having wide portfolio in this segment as well. The INR 5K-10K market is going to see some new specs and upgrades. In the premium segment, new models of Samsung, Apple and OnePlus would be worth to watch. Domestic vs Imports: ‘Make in India’ has provided the right impetus to the mobile manufacturing in the country. Today, about 66% of the total shipments are domestic manufacturing, in 2017, the share would touch 90%. CMR believes, in 2017, there would be major knock offs and the industry will see consolidation. 2017 is going to be a disruptive year as vendors come out with their unique propositions such as more RAM, higher battery capacities, among others. The re-entry of Nokia in Smartphones and exist of smaller players will be some of the important factors driving the Indian Mobile Handset Market. Tablet Market Sees No Sign of Turnaround, Dips 18% in CY 2016 Future Outlook As the price band shifts from INR 5-INR 10K to sub INR 5K levels, the Indian tablet manufacturers will see this as an opportunity with a line of sub 5K products. The market is moving towards a consolidation phase and 2017 will see further shrinkage with only 6-7 serious players remaining in the list. We have seen about 40 players exiting the market in the past 3-4 years. Unless the tablet industry comes out as a gateway for a particular solution, the turnaround would be difficult for the market. While smartphones are taking care of the masses, the tablets industry should cater to particular segments and customized their specs accordingly.
28
cHaNNel FocUS
“Innovative Vendors can survive and thrive in the Mobility industry” dominated by the IT vertical, with the exception of Lenovo and Vivo mobiles.” Park Network’s Distribution Product & Brand Portfolio in IT includes LED Monitors (Samsung and AOC), Printers (Canon), PoS (TVS), Headphones (Sennheiser) and Laptops & Tablets (iBall). On the Retailing front, their Product Portfolio covers Laptops, Desktops and AIO (Lenovo, Acer and HP) and Security (Zicom). On the Mobility front, Park Network is into the distribution of Google, Vivo, Gionee, Lava, Panasonic, Asus and Intex smartphones. Discussing the trends in the industry, Ajaya Kumar explains, “The current trend, in general, is that margins are coming down, both in IT and Telecom. The IT market is almost stagnant in terms of profits. On the Mobility side, though margins are decreasing, the revenues are increasing by 30% and there is room for growth. For a vendor to survive, innovation is the only means to maintain their market share and generate new business in the present day stagnant IT market. The more innovative the vendor, the longer and better he can survive and thrive in today’s competition. The brands should come up new innovations every now and then as the technology is getting outdated at an ever faster pace. Particularly in Mobility, new innovations keep coming faster than in other industries.”
Ajaya Kumar
Managing Director, Park Network Pvt Ltd
P
ark Network Pvt Ltd is a New Delhi-based distributor and retailer of IT and Mobility products in Delhi and Noida (NCR). Park Network operates in 3 verticals: 1.
IT Distribution
2.
Mobile Distribution
3.
IT and Mobile Retail
The company is headquartered in Nehru Place (Delhi), with Branch Offices in Wazirpur (Delhi), Noida (Uttar Pradesh) and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh), operating out of (4) distribution centers. Furthermore, Park Network is operating several Retail outlets, comprising of (3) in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), (2) in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) and (2) in Indirapuram (Uttar Pradesh). Going by Brands, these outlets can be classified into (3) Lenovo Exclusive stores, (2) HP World, (1) Acer Mall and (1) Vivo Mobile retail outlet. In an interaction with Mobility magazine, Ajaya Kumar, Managing Director, Park Network Pvt Ltd, comments, “Historically, our company was first to open exclusive IT retail stores in Noida, in the year 1998. Today, our main centers of business are Delhi and Noida – we are currently concentrating on these areas and have deferred expansion plans for the moment. Regarding our revenues, 80% revenue is contributed by the Distribution Vertical, with remainder made up of Retail. Broadly speaking, Distribution revenue is divided as 50% from IT and 50% from Mobile, whereas our Retail business is
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
Regarding service support, Ajaya Kumar adds, “In most cases, it is the vendor who provides service as well as warranty. For our corporate customers, we have our own service support team who work in tandem with the vendors’ service teams.” Keeping in mind the future, he adds, “We are looking to add more IT and Telecom products to our portfolio and expand our operations. Next, soon we are launching our own ecommerce portal, but we will be presenting only those brands which have a balanced approach to the offline-online mix, the ones that operate exclusively online or have price parity between the online and offline channel, so that it will not disrupt the traditional channels of business. We will not entertain predatory pricing on our ecommerce portal, and are stringent in this regard. Today, even the vendors have understood the importance of maintaining price parity so that offline channel can operate safely without fear or anxiety.” Talking about GST, Ajaya Kumar remarks, “At present, GST is expected to solve the troubles of cascading tax. But, the government is not yet clear about many aspects of this law. If the government’s objective is, exclusively, to earn bigger revenues than before, then GST will be more burdensome, and can contribute to a higher inflation - which can ultimately affect the common man.” Over time, Park Network has developed a team of dedicated, energetic, qualified and experienced professionals for providing end-to-end solutions in the field of IT Hardware, Mobility, Networking and Software. During the last two decades of their existence, Park Network has provided many innovative solutions to the challenging IT and Mobility infrastructure needs of customers, and to the smooth operation of channel sales across the Delhi NCR region.
30
iNteractioN
“Lava 4G Connect M1
is keypad-enabled smart device and performs almost all services of a smartphone” Gaurav Nigam, Head – Product, Lava International” Lava supports Indian government’s Digital India campaign and remains committed to promote digitization across the country by enhancing the feature phone technology. The launch of Lava 4G Connect M1 device is a testament of the same. Gaurav Nigam, Head - Product, Lava International Limitedin an interaction with Mobility shares Lava’s initiatives in providing keypad-enabled smart devices with 4G connectivity. Gaurav Nigam,
Product Head, Lava International Limited
Q. Please brief us about your latest product? Lava 4G Connect M1 is powered with1.2GHz quad-core processor,has twoSIM slots (one for 2G and the other for 4G),is powered bythe OS called Mocordroid. The phone has a robust body and extremely loud and clear sound. It has 512mb RAM and 4GB ROM along with an expandable memory up to 32GB. Indian telecom market is graduating towards 4G connectivity and this device brings the same affordability and availability to the consumers. Priced at Rs 3333 this is most economical 4G smart-keypad device in India. This handset comes pre-loaded with Facebook lite application and can also enable the users with streaming videos, video calls, social networking and other digital payments. Q. How is it helpful to the users compared to normal feature phones? Normal feature phones have low memory and 2G data connectivity, whereas the Lava 4G Connect M1 has an internal memory of 4GB which enables the users to download applications on the phone. It has 4G data connectivity which enables the users access music and videos. Today the users get their music and videos on their memory cards by spending Rs 100-150 every 2 months. This phone will enable users to access free content available on internet. The loud and clear sound enables the right experience. MoBilitY MarcH 2017
Q. How is it helpful to those who want to transfer money using the phone? A user can transfer money after downloading money transfer applications.Lava 4G Connect M1 aidscashless transactions, hence, reiteratingour commitment to Digital India programme. Q. Today even smartphones are coming at affordable prices. Then how can you justify the price of Rs 3333 of this phone? Lava commands a good market share of feature phones and smart phones in the mobile handset industry in India. The consumershave faith in the quality and reliability of our productsand understand that we offer better value for money. We use a 10-point principle while designing and developing the phones. Our phones last for 3 years on an average, which is higher as compared to other phones available in the market. Moreover, the growth of smartphones will be incremental and will not be exponential for some years. Therefore, keypad phones will continue toexist in the market. Q. When and where it is available? The Lava 4G Connect M1 is available through offline channel at retail stores; however,we will soon make it available onlineas well at the same price. We expect the demand for this handset to rise further in the coming months.
32
iN FocUS
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
33
34
Face to Face
We at Ziox plans to sell 10 million handsets in the financial year 2017-18 Mr. Chiranjib Sarkar joined Ziox in May 2016. Overall experience of 20 years and worked with brands like Pepsi, Philips, Motorola and Intex. Prior to joining Ziox, he was leading the channel and distribution management verticals, and was in-charge for strategy planning and regional profitability mapping at Intex. At present with Ziox Mr. Sarkar is driving the brand’s physical footprint across the country. MobilityIndia caught up with Mr. Chiranjib Sarkar to know more about company’s achievements and their future plans for India market. is the secret of our success. Please brief us about your distribution network and channel strategy?
Chiranjib Sarkar
National Sales Head, Ziox Mobiles How Ziox is faring in the market today? Ziox is a purely Indian brand andI am glad to tell you Ziox has done extremely well in last one year. Initially, Ziox started, our presence was only in a few states, but today we are present pan-India and we are expanding rapids even into those few corners where we are yet to penetrate.A year back,we were present only in Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal, but in the last 10 months we expanded nationwide. What is the focus of Ziox and you want to go about? Today, Ziox is considered as one of the fastest growing handset providers in India. Our main base has been and will continue to be feature phones which contribute over 80% of our revenues, although we have a few smartphone models which we launched recently. Our feature phones range from Rs 1000 to 1200 and smart phones are priced between Rs 3000 and Rs 6000.Feature phones are still the mainstay for our company. In the last 10 months, we sold more than 2 million handsets. When we analyzed our sales,we found that recentlywe have solda phone every 5 secsin the Indian market. Last month we sold 4 lac handsets and our target is to finish with 3 million handsets in FY 2016-17. Can you throw some light on your USPs? We bring value proposition to the consumers by offering extremely good quality phones at affordable prices. The failure rate of phones is extremely low.Indian market is huge and there is a lot of opportunity for feature phones, smart phones and also for accessories. We keep our basics straight and right and that
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
We have a strong pan-India distribution network. We have nearly 600 partners, direct and indirect, we have a presence at 30000+ retail outlets and we want to reach 70000 retailers in FY 201718.We are strong on conventional channel front with regional distributors, local distributors and so on. We are also present on ecommerce portals like Snapdeal, Amazon, Flipkart, etc. and on TV shopping mediums like Home Shop 18 and Naaptol. Soon we willforay into organized Large Format Retail. Can you brief us about your service policy? At Ziox, when we sell products we also sell service; service is an integral part of our product offerings. Today after-sales-service is a very important and those who want to succeed in the current cut-throat competition must pay attention to service.We have 600+ service centers across India. Recently, we have introduced a 111 Days Replacement Policy for our feature phones. This policy is applicable from the day of activation or Purchase (whichever one is first). This unique policy allows us to build stronger connect with our customers and will assure them that we stand for best quality products & service in the cluttered Mobile market. Started in selective states, we plan on extending it to a pan India level. In addition to this, we have an Assured 10 Day Service policy wherein we will close on any hardware issue faced by our consumers at a maximum of 10 working days. However, in rare cases, when we are unable to address the issue at hand, we will replace the device with a new one on the 11th day of complaint login. What are your future plans? Weplan to sell 10million handsets in the financial year 2017-18. We already have a manufacturing unit in Delhi and soon we will open another unit in Delhi NCR which will be having the production capacity of approx. 1 million handsets. We will also manufacture mobile accessories in addition to mobile phones. We want to become a brand that gives a comprehensive range of products and accessories to the customers.
MoBilitY MarcH 2017
Date of Pub: 10th March, 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