Mobility oct 2017

Mobility Monthly Magazine

October 2017

Issue 10

Volume 14

Pages 40

20

beyond technology, beyond lifestyle

www.mobilityindia.com

4

Contents

EDITORIAL 6 News 10 Launchpad 14 interview 20 Mr. Sanjay Kalirona CEO, COMIO Mobiles (India

REVIEWS 22 Comio C1 A Sturdy Newcomer.

Panasonic Eluga Ray 500 and Eluga Ray 700, Viov Y69 For Selfie Lovers

25

SPECIAL STORY

26

guest column

app

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

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

Mobile Accessories Market Is Evolving a Rapid pace

GM/ Market Intelligence and Consumer Insights, Intex Technologies

Circulation Manager : P. Biswas Production : Ashish Ghosh

Ashok Kumar Paul System Manager : Ajay Biswas

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

FEATURED HGD (INDIA)

Mr. Joginder Chhabra Mobile Accessories Market Is Evolving a Rapid pace

Editor : Swapan Roy Chief Editor : Manoj Jha Associate Editor (Tech,) : Jayanta Ghosh Asst. Editor : E.J. Jawahardatham Product Head : Anit Kumar Creative Head : Gautam Middya Acct. & Finance : Sandip Sarkar Marketing Manager : Tridip Dey Marketing Executives : Sujit Goswami, Pratap Biswas S. Dutt

Raj Kumar

36 38

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

By Mr. Teja Gudluru roy@ mobilityindia.com CEO & Founder, UDo

Marketing : tridip@mobilityindia.com

marketing@mobilityindia.com Info

: info@mobilityindia.com

Subscribe : subscription@ mobilityindia.com

Mobility october 2017

6

editorial

Mobile Accessories Market is Growing Faster than Ever Dear Readers, Mobility wishes Happy Diwali to all the readers !!

The phenomenal increase in demand for smartphones with many feature phone users rapidly shifting to smartphones and the spread of mobile Internet access to rural areas is spurring the demand for mobile accessories as never before. With increasing competition, prices are coming down and the top class accessories are now available at lower prices, but the users need to be careful while choosing the good quality accessories from the right brands.

In this issue, we covered the most recent launches and also the latest innovations in earphones, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, mobile chargers, etc.

Hope this issue will help readers to pick the right mobile accessories.

Editor’s Choice

Swapan Roy roymobility@gmail.com

PORSCHE DESIGN | HUAWEI MATE 10 The PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 10 has been specifically designed with an impressive memory cortex. With a combination of 6GB RAM and 256GB ROM* it is the highest spec of the HUAWEI Mate 10 series.The PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 10 comes with a USB-C to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter and custom made leather case, designed exclusively for this premium package

www.mobilityindia.com

Mobility october 2017

twitter.com/mobilitymag

facebook.com/mobilityindia2004

edit@mobilityindia.com

10

News

Intex Creates Milestone with Record Sale of 3 Lakh Power Banks in Aug, 2017

Intex Technologies, one of the leading consumer electronics companies, achieved a milestone with the sale of a record 300K Power Bank units pan-India in the month of August, 2017.

Maximum sales were done at various online platforms thereby making Intex the No. 1 brand in the online space.

Earlier this year, Intex was clocking 100K units per month and in August achieved 3 times the same. Intex’s Power Bank’s Online to Offline ratio stands at 85:15.

Transsion Holdings offers proposition with the launch of Carlcare in India

Transsion Holdings, a global conglomerate launched its after sale service brand, Carlcare in India. The exclusive store inaugurated in Noida today will service all brands under Transsion Holdings including TECNO, Infinix, itel, Spice and Oraimo.

With the launch of this brand, Transsion Holdings has further strengthened its commitment of providing world class after sale services to the Indian customers.

With Carlcare, the company is now offering another unique service proposition of 72-hour turnaround time across its brand portfolios thus, bringing in faster and superlative repair efficiencies.

ASUS India announces Disha Patani as new brand ambassador

ASUS, the Taiwanese leader in mobile technology, announced the young rising star and online sensation, Disha Patani as the new brand ambassador for laptops and smartphones.

Commenting on the announcement, Arindam Saha, Head Marketing, ASUS India said, “We are so excited to have Disha as our new brand ambassador and welcome her into the ASUS family. Besides her incredible beauty, she stands for modernity, freshness, self-confidence, trendy, elegance and spontaneity. Everything that we convey through our wide product range. Besides, today we are catering to an audience that defines ambitious, forward-moving, nonstop pulse of India and Disha understands the pulse of this audience well. Her vibrant persona, pan-India appeal and her confident attitude makes her the perfect ambassador for our brand. We are confident that Disha’s popularity will further help complement and articulate the future direction of the brand ASUS.”

Mobility october 2017

TomTom Inaugurates Traffic Centre at Pune Centre of Excellence, India

TomTom inaugurated its latest Traffic Centre at its Centre of Excellence in Pune, India. The Traffic Centre in Pune is a part of TomTom’s global network of Traffic Centres, showcasing TomTom’s intelligent technology for traffic and travel management. which The Traffic Centre in Pune will demonstrate how TomTom turns data into actionable insights that can help traffic city planners and inhabitants make smarter decisions, reducing road congestion and enhancing mobility in cities. The TomTom Traffic centre will help in delivering a real time, comprehensive understanding of traffic speeds on the entire road network, including rich live and historic insights into traffic flows and trends. It will showcase traffic management expertise to governments, B2B and automotive licensing partners and other stakeholders interested in how they can start planning for a smarter future.

Lenovo Aces the Tablet Game in India

Lenovo, a global technology player and one of the world’s leading PC and Tablet brands, beats the competition to become the No. 1 player in India Tablet market. According to research firm IDC, the company leads the tablets category with 21.8% share beating Samsung and Datawind.

Lenovo gained the top spot in the tablets category with a Q-o-Q growth of 12.6 %. Significant wins from government, education & large enterprises helped company’s commercial tablets business gain strong traction in this quarter. Additionally, Lenovo tablets have seen a significance increase in traction across e-commerce platforms. Lenovo Yoga Series & A-series Tablets propelled Lenovo’s industry beating growth. Over the last couple of quarters, Lenovo has recorded stable growth in the tablets market in India.

Nuu mobile finally go on sale through offline channels

Last month the Hong Kong based smartphone brand Nuu Mobile announced its product line and its entry in the Indian market. All products are now available in North and north east India through offline channels. Nuu Mobile also investing in brand building exercises this year and target to sell 2 million devices per annum. “ We are providing free pick and drop service during warranty period in case consumer face any problem in our handsets. Nuu mobile will sell phone across India by end of this year but right now we have started with North and North-east India,” Nuu Mobile India, CEO and Director Riyas Usman said.

12

news

The company has partnered with third party service centre firm Servify, which has around 2,000 service centres, to provide after sales services.

To give value added services to its customers, Nuu mobile also partnered with EClass, EasyMyTrip.com, Foodpanda, Zebronics, VLCC, Manana Mobile, OYO and Myles.

Google and HTC Announce US$1.1 Billion Cooperation Agreement

Google and HTC Corporation announced a definitive agreement under which certain HTC employees – many of whom are already working with Google to develop Pixel smartphones – will join Google.

HTC will receive US$1.1 billion in cash from Google as part of the transaction. Separately, Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property (IP). The agreement is a testament to the decade-long strategic relationship between HTC and Google around the development of premium smartphones. This agreement also supports HTC’s continued branded smartphone strategy, enabling a more streamlined product portfolio, greater operational efficiency and financial flexibility. HTC will continue to have best- in-class engineering talent, which is currently working on the next flagship phone, following the successful launch of the HTC U11 earlier this year. HTC will also continue to build the virtual reality ecosystem to grow its VIVE business, while investing in other next-generation technologies, including the Internet of Things, augmented reality and artificial intelligence.

Smartron and Qualcomm introduces Qualcomm Mesh Networking platform for IoT connected homes in India

Smartron announced their plans to introduce the newly launched Qualcomm Mesh Networking platform for IoT connected devices for the Indian market. With this association, Smartron & Qualcomm Technologies aim to build a robust ecosystem of connected devices and services suited for the Indian smart home. With rapid urbanization, growing aspirational middle class and increasing per-capita incomes, the smart home market in India is not just a reality but an affordable one now. This scenario presents the right opportunity for a homegrown company like Smartron to build a scalable product ecosystem for smart home solutions catering to the local consumer needs and infrastructure requirements.

Ziox conducts successful Distributor Meet for North East Region

Ziox, the Mobile division of Sun Airvoice Pvt. Ltd. conducted a very successful Distributor meet for North East Region in Shillong. The company dedicated 2 days to meetings and exchanges of opinions with the Keyline distributors, dealers and resellers, inducting them on the several new offerings (launches) in pipeline and the schemes/plans for upcoming festive season. The company currently does the total business over 5crore per Month in

Mobility october 2017

North east region, and announced its plans to double these numbers by next quarter.

Further strengthening and refining its relations with the strategic partners, Ziox aimed at understanding the market requirements from the distribution network to bolster the long-term relations, the company also showcased and briefed its dealers about different company schemes & plans to implement in the coming future along with their support and discussion on elevating the reward and recognition structure for the dealer, which was also a vital point of discussion.

Coolpad launches its exclusive experience zone plus service center in India

Coolpad announced the launch of its exclusive experience zone plus service center in India for their customers. The experience centre was inaugurated by Mr. Lawrence Zeng, South Asia Head, Coolpad, Mr. Syed Tajuddin, CEO, Coolpad India and Mr. Rakesh Kirar, After Sales Head, India. Coolpad is planning to launch 6 exclusive experience zones in the coming months, in India.

Coolpad has appointed “MARS E-Services” as front end service partner for expanding service network as Exclusive and Multi-brand in India. MARS E- Service is going to open 4 experience centers in Delhi, 1 in Hyderabad and 1 in Bangalore by end of this year. All 6 experience centers will be Coolpad exclusive.

Intex Technologies Honoured at CMO Asia 2017 Awards

Intex Technologies, owner of Gujarat Lions IPL Team, has recently been honoured and felicitated at the prestigious CMO Asia Awards 2017 held in Singapore for excellence in sports marketing for its two campaigns – ‘Chai With Keshav’ and ‘Dhaago Bandho Mannat Maango’. The awards were received by Ms Chetna Sundaram, Head-Digital Marketing, Intex Technologies, in the presence of Top 200 Brands and Digital Marketing companies from across Asia.

14

launchpad

Micromax launches Co-created tablet with Eros Now

Taking the entertainment quotient notches higher, Micromax Informatics, one of the leading consumer electronics brand in the world, leveraged its strategic partnership with Eros Now, the cutting-edge digital platform by Eros International plc, a leading company in the Indian film entertainment industry, to bring alive a seamless on-the go entertainment experience for the consumers.

Micromax is launching a co-created content packed, tabletCanvas Plex with Eros Now, which will give consumers a year of immersive and unlimited content of movies, music and entertainment shows.

Nikon launched D850

Nikon India announced the launch of Nikon D850.

Priced at INR 254,950 for D850 Body only and INR 299,950 for D850 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. The D850 is the new benchmark in D-SLR image quality with an unprecedented combination of resolution, dynamic range, ISO and speed. The camera is geared towards the growing segment of hybrid photographers in wedding photography and of those in the genres of nature, events and fashion. With a remarkable turnover of Rs. 1,100 crores in FY16, Nikon India aims to further raise the bar next year aiming a 5-10% increase. This camera is the latest addition to Nikon’s FX-format (full-frame) D-SLR range and is engineered with advanced features that deliver versatility and uncompromised performance across stills and video shooting. This is also Nikon’s first DSLR to incorporate a BSI CMOS sensor, which captures light more efficiently, resulting in a wider dynamic range and low-noise image capture.

Beyond the immense resolution, the Nikon D850 offers photographers superior performance. It is equipped with a powerful 45.7-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor that guarantees an unmatched balance of high-speed and exceptional resolution when combined with up to 9-fps1 continuous shooting mode backed by its EXPEED 5 image-processing engine.

Portronics Launches Diski 4-in-1 Card reader

Portronics has added a very innovative Smartphone accessory called Diski which is an Apple certified (MFI) 4-in-1 Card Reader and it is much more than a simple card reader. Since smartphones are restricted to a limited memory, typically which is very precious to you, whether IOS or Android. Restricted memory availability in your phone does not allow you to click pictures and take

Mobility october 2017

new videos, watch your favorite movies, download YouTube videos, or download tons of music. You also have to always clean up the memory in your Smartphone by storing away or deleting your precious pictures / music files. You cannot use your large screen phone to watch multiple movies or TV series because of limited memory. So you fancy upgrading to a phone with larger memory but somehow you postpone the expensive plan and live with the problem. Also you find sharing music/video files not as easy as doing it on pen drive and laptop.

Mafe Mobile launches its new affordable 4G smartphone – AIR

Mafe Mobile, has announced the launch of its latest 4G enabled smartphone – the AIR, which offers powerful performance and is loaded with useful features at an affordable price. The AIR comes with a 10.16 cm (4), (800 x 480 pixels) FWVGA display which offers a rich movie viewing and game playing experience. Powered by a 1.3 Ghz, quad core Spreadtrum processor, 2GB RAM and latest Android 7.0 Nougat OS, the AIR delivers stunningly fast performance and makes multi-tasking a breeze. Featuring a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2 MP front camera, the AIR is equipped with a solid 2000mAh Li-Ion battery with 10 hours of talk time and 22 hours of standby time. It offers an internal memory storage of 16GB expandable upto 32 GB .Weighing just 120gms and measuring 10.7 mm in thickness, the AIR is extremely light weight and sports a slim design making it easy to carry around. The 4G smartphone also packs an array of other useful features like GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiFi Hotspot , gravity and proximity sensor and FM radio.

iBall launches iBall CompBook Aer3

Establishing its foothold in the market and emerging as the No. 1 Indian Laptop brand with CompBook series, iBall – known for its innovative and latest technology products, brings to us the next level of technology – ending the search of businesses for the best Executive Laptop under Rs. 30,000 with launch of iBall CompBook Aer3. Open up to fly high to achieve all the possibilities and opportunities with this key gadget to success. Hitting the sweet spot, iBall CompBook Aer3 is encased with a stunning full metallic body and is designed aesthetically with luxurious Gold, which leaves you mesmerized.

The Windows Hello (Quick Fingerprint scannerSecrets Secured) feature ensures the most secure way to unlock and access your machine, keeping secrets and privacy blended with functionality.

Xiaomi launches Mi A1 with Google in major next step for Android One

Global technology leader Xiaomi announced Mi A1 in collaboration with Google, the first device to run on the evolved Android One program. Mi A1 runs on stock Android to offer a high-quality software experience designed by Google, underscoring Xiaomi’s commitment to providing more choices for users. Priced from INR 14,999 in India, Mi A1 is a beautifully-designed device that combines hardware innovations, including an optical zoom dual camera setup,

16

launchpad

with great Googledesigned software. Mi A1 incorporates a dual camera configuration similar to that in Mi 6, Xiaomi’s latest flagship device, with wide angle and telephoto lenses used to incredible effect. Mi A1 is Xiaomi’s first Android One phone, with a software experience designed by Google, offering users a simple, pure Android phone that stays fresh over time with OS upgrades.

Lenovo India added two new members to its K series of devices K8 plus and Lenovo K8

Both come with blend of predominantly glass and metal with Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) out of the box, with assured updates to Android Oreo, as well as high-end multimedia features like Dolby Atmos and Lenovo’s TheaterMax technology.The Lenovo K8 Plus takes performance to another level. It comes with a 13.2cm (5.2), Full High definition (1920 x 1080p) display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The device is powered by a true octa core processor clocked at 2.6 GHz, with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, expandable to 128GB using a microSD card via a dedicated slot.

Lenovo K8 is for consumers who are looking for a chic device with ultimate performance at a compelling price point. With a metallic body, the phone sports a 5.2 inch HD display and is powered by a 2.3 GHz Octa core processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage, which can be expanded by 128GB using a microSD card.

Sony brings MHC-V90DW

Elevating its premium audio line-up, Sony India today launched the new high power audio system MHC-V90DW. The MHC-V90DW is packed with advanced technology and sound pressure to bring high quality sound to cover a wide range and reach a larger area. With its bolder look, MHCV90DW stands impressive at 170 cm tall and the large tower design of the speaker means that music can be heard in the best possible way.

The users can light up the night with the brilliant lighting feature options, and with the excellent sound quality, the MHC-V90DW is truly a party machine.

MHC-V90DW is massive, in terms of size, quality, features, lighting and sound.

With all these unmatched features the speaker becomes a perfect party companion. Powerful high quality sound with audio output of 2000W

ASUS announces availability of ROG G701 in India

Merging style, fun, functionality and gaming in a surprisingly slim and stylish laptop, ASUS announced the availability of ROG G701 in India. An extremely powerful laptop with components that include an overclockable NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics for incredible virtualreality (VR) gaming performance, and a wide-viewingangle 4k UHD laptop display that features NVIDIA G-SYNC technology for smooth and detailed gaming visuals. It also has an anti-ghosting keyboard with 30-key rollover technology for total gaming control. ROG G701 is

Mobility october 2017

engineered for ultimate speed and unrivaled performance, with an unlocked Intel Core i7 processor and a VR-ready NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPU. G701 boasts overclocked DDR4 DRAM at 2800MHz, HyperDrive RAID 0 and NVMe and PCIe technologies for blazing-fast storage speeds, and a 120Hz panel with NVIDIA G-SYNC technology. G701 is finished with a premium Bio-Armor design and the new ROG Armor Titanium with Plasma Copper color scheme.

Digitek launches two premium-built Bluetooth speakers

Digitek announced the launch of two premium Bluetooth speakers – DBS 004 and DBS 005 designed for audiophiles and music enthusiasts. A perfect blend of style and functionality, the speakers make an ideal companion for sports activities, camping or pool parties. Superportable, trendy and waterproof, the palm-sized DBS 004 speaker is IPX5 enabled which means it is water resistant.This speaker features a built-in 600mAhLi-ion battery and with just 2-3 hours of charging will give you an uninterrupted music playback for 3-8 hours. It has a built-in Microphone that supports hands free call for 4-5 hrs at a stretch and supports Bluetooth,AUX IN,TF Card as well as FM Radio. With Bluetooth 4.2+EDR, an output of 6 watts and towering range of 10 meters, the speaker gives much more flexibility in playing.

Ambrane Announces the Launch of its Smartwatch ASW – 11

Riding high on being No. 1 in Power Banks, Ambrane one of the leading IT brands in computer peripherals & Mobile accessories further strengthens its presence in wearable Market with the launch of its latest ASW-11 Smartwatch. Pushing the boundaries of the traditional art of watchmaking along with the touch of Technology, the device not only shows you the time, but also has Bluetooth connectivity and doubles as a fitness tracker, allowing you to do so much more. Scoring full in good looks, along with several advanced features built right into the watch, the smart watch, with its broad rubber strap and its sleek touchscreen, is an accessory worth flaunting. Designed with meticulous attention, the watch is everything minimal, elegant and style.

Zebronics announced its smallest Portable Speaker ‘Noble’ for Rs. 777/-

Zebronics announced the the launch of super compact & stylish ‘Noble Speaker’ a speaker for just about every person. From those who want only the best sound to outdoor adventure to bass heads, with Noble it’s all covered. Devised with the penchant for style yet balanced with excellent sound, the drool worthy speaker is every hearts content. Compact enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the speaker sounds very good

18

launchpad

and plays very loud for its size with the battery life of upto 120minutes of playback. Metallic finish with modern colors, the ultra-portable speaker seamlessly pairs up with mobile or any Bluetooth device whereas the small yet powerful speaker provides distinguishably loud and distortion free music with uninterrupted music playback time of up to 120 minutes. Adding to that, there is a built-in microphone that also allows the user to make and receive calls, at the press of one button.With a range of about 10 meters, the speaker is compatible with Micro SD Card/AUX input. It also comes with a built-in FM bringing the users an amplified outdoor entertainment at an affordable price. The speaker is already available with leading retail stores across India.

lephone launches its latest W15 with 2GB RAM lephone, the Chinese Smartphone maker, on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras launched the elegantly designedlephone W15 panIndia, that offers a classy onthe-go experience to the users.

Equipped with a 5-inch HD IPS screen, lephone W15 is a Dual SIM phone with a separate dedicated SD Card slot and powered by 1.3 GHz Quad Core processor with 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory. Backed by 2,000 mAh battery, the dual-SIM lephone W15 comes with 4G VoLTE support. In terms of optics, the phone comes with an 8-megapixel rear AF camera with LED Flash and 5-megapixel front camera. Available in Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, Red colors, W15 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and comes with an efficient GPS, G.P.L( G: Gravity, P: Proximity, L: Light) sensor and a smooth FM radio player.

This model offers an eclectic range of emojis and symbols for better text communication and has 22 Indian regional languages entailing Hindi, Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Nepali, Bodo, Telugu, Urdu, Sindhi, Oriya, Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Dogri, Maithili, Santhali, Konkani and Manipuri.

All this comes at a reasonable price of Rs 5499.

itel launches S41, first VoLTE smartphone with fingerprint sensor

After being consistently ranked as the 2nd largest mobile phone player by shipment in India, itel Mobile is all set to further fortify its leadership position with the launch of its flagship smartphone, the Selfiepro S41. The latest offering from itel Mobile is the first VoLTE smartphone in the country which comes equipped with premium, best-in-class features like 3 GB RAM and fingerprint sensor – all at a jawdropping price point of INR 6,990!

Power-packed, visually stunning, and aesthetically designed, the SelfiePro S41 is, without a doubt, the best smartphone in the sub-INR 7,000 category at present. The launch marks a new era for itel as a major disruptor in the Indian smartphone market.

HMD Global announced the launch of Nokia 8 in India

HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, announced the launch of Nokia 8 in India. A high-performance, beautifully

Mobility october 2017

crafted smartphone, the Nokia 8 brings three world-firsts to Android smartphones, including a debut collaboration with ZEISS optics. With performance and pure Android at its heart, as well as the most advanced aluminium unibody design to date, the Nokia 8 incorporates all the hallmarks of a true flagship Nokia smartphone.

Be less Selfie, be more Bothie: The Nokia 8 introduces a world-first in enabling Dual-Sight video to be livestreamed natively and in real-time to social feeds such as Facebook and YouTube. Dual-Sight simultaneously harnesses both the front and rear cameras in a split screen visual for both photos and videos. With just one touch, this world-first livestream capability gives more immersive experiences for those who love to create and share special memories.

GoPro launched HERO6

GoPro, unveiled HERO6 Black, the most powerful and convenient GoPro, yet.

Powered by GoPro’s custom-designed GP1 processor, HERO6 achieves an entirely new level of performance including stunning 4K60 and 1080p240 video and the most advanced video stabilization ever achieved in a GoPro. GoPro also launched Fusion, its bar-setting waterproof, mountable 5.2K spherical camera. Additionally, GoPro introduced new mounts and accessories plus a new Follow mode for its Karma drone.

COMIO Launches the C2 Smartphone in India

COMIO India launches its fourth smartphone – the C2. An all in one handset, the C2 comes loaded with a powerful battery, security features, scratch free back cover and exceptional music quality. The smartphones have been designed keeping the Indian consumer in mind with a range of progressive and user-friendly features and specifications.

Headquartered in New Delhi, the brand caters to the mid-level segment which is the fastest growing smartphone segment in the country.

Honor Launches Holly 4

Honor launched its eagerly anticipated budget device-Holly 4, in India. Available at a very attractive price, the Holly 4 comes packed with exciting features and best in class specs, and will be available across Honor’s extensive 30,000 retail points spread across 400 cities and towns panIndia. This smartphone is aimed at value conscious consumers who do not wish to compromise on any aspect of a rich and seamless smartphone experience.The Honor Holly 4 will be available in Grey, Gold and Silver color.

20

interview

“COMIO Aims to become a Top Brand in the Indian Smartphone MidSegment Category” Mr. Sanjay Kalirona CEO, COMIO Mobiles (India)

COMIO India, launched in the Indian market in mid-2017, is the sister concern of Topwise Communication, one of the leading original device manufacturers (ODM) and is amongst the top three printed circuit board (PCBA) manufacturers. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Topwise Communication specializes in manufacturing all categories of smartphones, PC tablets and POS machines worldwide, including for the leading Indian smartphone brands. In an interaction with Mobility magazine, Sanjay Kalirona, CEO, COMIO Mobiles (India), shares their company’s vision, mission, stratey and channel plan.

“Though we have launched COMIO in 2017 in India, we have 12 years experience while supplying as ODM to the Indian brands and also to the other global brands, so we are well associated with the needs of Indian customers. We launched three models in the Rs 6000 to Rs 12,000 range all across the north and west Indian states. We launched Comio in China in 2015 and now in India in 2017. In north and west India, we are getting very good response for COMIO. Currently, we launched 3 models in North India: models P1, S1 and C1 for the different segments of consumers. P1’s main stregth is high power back up (5000 mAh battery). S1 stands for style which has attractive, slim, metal body and overall very good looking. C1’s special feature is music, besides coming with slim, metal body and 32 GB internal memory. Our focus is on mid-segment Rs 6000 to Rs 12000 and offline is our main strength and focus.

We have already appointed 4000 channel partners and 15,000 retail partners all across north India and west India. The idea is to establish first in the north and west India which constitutes nearly 60% of the smartphone market in India. In early 2018, we will expand to south east India regions and to LFR chains. Besides offline, our products are also available on all the important online portals, but at the MOP of offline market.”

COMIO India’s smartphones have been designed keeping the Indian consumer in mind. Headquartered in New Delhi, the brand caters to the mid-level segment which is the fastest growing in India, through a range of innovative, technologically-advanced and user-friendly products. COMIO has a mission to provide high quality,

Mobility october 2017

reasonable and innovative products to consumers in India. The company is backed by a complete ecosystem including top class R&D, design, manufacturing, software development and marketing.

Talking about their special schemes for the festive season, Sanjay Kalirona comments, “Our models launched recently are here right before the festive season. In our models, we are not only giving something different in terms of software and hardware, but also in terms of good after-sales-support offers, inlcuding giving screen breakage guarantee (of 6 months), according to which we replace the damaged screen free of cost in first 6 months of purchase; giving 100 days extra warranty; . buyback of old devices at certain value; and if someone has a COMIO device and he wants to take a new model, we are paying back 40% back of the old device cost. We want to give the best value-propositions for mid-segment.

For example, if consumers get a smartphone with good features for Rs 15k in market, they get a similar devices from us for Rs 10k. Our objective is to capture good market share in the mid-market segment of Rs 6-12k in India.”

Talking about future plans and Make in India, Sanjay Kalirona comments, “In FY 2017-18, we are aiming to sell 1 million handsets and in FY 2018-19, our goal is to sell 4 to 5 million handsets in India. In China, we have 3 stateof-the-art manufacturing units. We are planning to start our Indian manufacturing unit next year. For this we in talks with a third party in India. We see a good scope for COMIO in India and we want to establish COMIO as one of the top brands in the Indian market.”

22

Review

Comio C1 A Sturdy newcomer

C

hinese smartphone brand Comio debuted in the Indian market with three smartphones – Comio P1, Comio S1 and Comio C1. Comio C1 is the cheapest priced at Rs 5,999. The device is now available through both online and offline channels. COMIO is targeting to play in the Rs 6,000-12,000 price bracket, which they feel is a “sweet spot” accounting for 35-40 percent of the smartphone market in volume terms.To give more value added proposition to consumers, Comio also offering some good package with every phone, like the smartphones are to come with a 30 days replacement scheme included in a year of warranty with additional 100 days extra warranty on screen. Also, the company will be offering a buy back offer and an upgrade offer that can be used to avail 40 percent discount within the brand. Notably, the upgrade offer will be applicable only within one year of purchase for Comio smartphone owners.

Also they are providing 6 months manufacturer warranty for in-box accessories. Also offering additional data benefits to Reliance Jio subscribers. Comio smartphone buyers can recharge their Jio account for Rs 309 or above, and avail 5GB of additional data.

Specs and Looks: The Comio C1 comes with a 5-inch HD (720p) IPS display, and is powered by a 64-bit quad-core SoC. 32GB internal memory expandable up to 128GB , 1GB RAM, Android v7.0 Nougat operating system with 1.3GHz 64 bit

Mobility october 2017

quad core processor, 8 MP Rear Camera with auto focus, Flash , 4 P Lens, F 2.0 aperture. 5 MP Front Camera with Flash , 4 P Lens.

Comio C1 Comes with 9.3mm slim body with metal frame; powerful speaker for music; Preloaded with special security features - anti virus, anit theft, and intruder selfie.Its backed with a .2200mAH lithium-Ion battery , 2 SIM hybrid slots - nano SIM / MicroSD card .It comes in Mellow Gold and Space Black color options.

Performance: The first thing that we liked about this device is its build quality, it has a completly metallic unibody design, which not many brands are offering in this price segment.

The texture of this device is also very good. We have used this device for few days and it performes day to day task with and ease, without any lags thats to its 64 bit quad core processor. Both camera performance is moderate not too great or too bad, and not much of a great result in the low light conditions, but in this price tag we guess its satisfying. Device is not loaded with plethora of pre bundled apps, but some good useful one, like the Freezer and Clone Application. The Freezer app allows you to as many applications as you wish without the worry of space constraints whereas the Clone app makes sure that all that data from your device is backed up at all times. The Clone app also allows for ease of transfer of data from one handset to another. The best thing that COMIO added to its smartphone range is its valuable anti-theft feature which is preloaded in all handsets. So in case of any suspicious activity, SIM based alerts are shared with the registered mobile number. One of the interesting feature of Anti-theft is the image click seek, wherein when someone tries to unlock the device by trying to break the pattern or PIN, the device will automatically take the image of the unauthorized person. Other options include the lock and unlock feature, shutdown blocker, data back up, and SIM related functions.

Verdict: Under 6k Comio C1 is a good value for money phone, and we feel it is a right step in right direction for brand Comio.

rEVIEW

Panasonic Eluga Ray 500 and Eluga Ray 700 Two camera - centric Phones from Panasonic to the user by taking them back to the previous page with a single touch.

Eluga Ray 700 The Eluga Ray 700 has 5.5 inch FHD IPS 2.5D curved display which ensures crystal clear clarity and an enhanced output. The display protection of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protects the phone screen from damages. Eluga Ray 700 lets the user see the world in all its glory with the 13MP Sony IMX 258 Rear Camera lens with Phase Detection Auto focus (PDAF) and capture beautiful and stunning selfies even in low light with the 13MP front camera with flash. The power packed Eluga Ray 700 is packed with 5000 mAh Li-Po gigantic battery with quick charging time, which ensures longer usage without a charge. Powered by a 1.3 GHz Octa –core Processor and 3 GB RAM this device ensures quick access to internet and smartphone operations anywhere, anytime. One can enjoy their favourite music with its K class amplifier system which provides crystal clear sound and nonstop movies up to 17.30 hours with FHD Video playback.

P

anasonic India recently launched two camera specific smartphones Eluga Ray 500 and Eluga Ray 700.

The Eluga Ray 500 is the first dual camera phone from Panasonic, which lets the user switch between the 120 degree ultra-wide 8MP and 13 MP rear camera for the perfect shot. Eluga Ray 700 comes with 13 MP Sony IMX 258 rear camera lens with phase detection auto focus (PDAF).

The two power packed entrants in the Eluga series priced at Rs. 8999(Eluga Ray 500) and Rs. 9999 (Eluga Ray 700) respectively, and are exclusively avilable through Flipkart.

Eluga Ray 500 is quite compact ,sports a 5-inch HD screen. The device measures 144.26 x 71.26 x 9.2 mm and weighs 163 grams. The HD IPS display offers a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and also has a 2.5D curved glass for better viewing angles. In terms of design its standard, nothing new .The micro USB 2.0 port is flanked between two speaker grills but only right side grill has the speaker and other is just for the showcase. The 3.5mm audio port resides on the top of the phone. The Panasonic Eluga Ray 500 is backed by a quad-core MediaTek MT6737 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM. There is a 32GB internal memory that can be expanded by up to 128GB via hybrid SIM card slot. It is a real powerhouse with 4000 mAh battery ensuring longer operations without any worry of frequent charging. With the built-in ‘Back to Previous’ feature the Front-Fingerprint sensor not just ensures security but provides an additional delight

Verdict: Both are good looking decent performers, camera are battery life are the main high point for both the devices.

Mobility october 2017

23

24

review

Vivo Y69 For Selfie Lovers V

ivo recently launched its latest Y series smarphone Y69 in the sub 15K price segment. With this device Vivo is targeting the budget segment category with this premium looking camera centric phone.

Design and Specs: The 2.5D glass front of the Y69 combines sleekly with the back cover in a timeless elegant design. No matter how you hold it, the curved edges and sleek lines always feel wonderful in your hand..

This is a 5.5 inch phone with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 HD display. Powered with 1.5 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT67 with 3GB RAM. The Y69 has an internal storage of 32GB that can be expandable upto 256 GB with micro SD card. Vivo Y69 runs Android 7.0 Nougat wrapped under the proprietary Funtouch OS 3.2 on top.

The rear camera is a 13MP snapper with f/2.2 aperture, and the front camera is a 16MP with f/2.0 aperture.Y69 comes with a 3000mAh battery and it weights 162.8g.

Performance: As this is a camera centric phone so lets talk about that first, the Vivo Y69 comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 16-megapixel front-facing shooter. The primary camera comes with an LED flash to take care of low-light conditions while the front camera can be used for video calling and selfies. The powerful 13 MP rear camera sensor with PDAF technology lets you capture life’s fine moments.

It lets you shoot multiple frames in quick succession and the image quality is also good enough compared to others in this segment. Y69 comes with an exciting camera feature that brings your photos to life by creating a moving image.

Live Photo captures 1.5 seconds of video and audio both before and after you press the shutter button to take a photo.

Under the hood, the Y69 is equipped with a 1.5GHz octa-

Mobility october 2017

core MediaTek chipset and 3GB of RAM to provide users with a flawless and lag-free smartphone experience. Y69 has a front fingerprint sensor that unlocks fast in just 0.2 seconds, and guarantees smooth and convenient access.

Y69 brings you the brand-new Smart Split 3.0. which makes multitasking a breeze. Just click once to split the screen in two and enjoy entertainment and chatting using two apps at the same time. Separate your personal and work life with App Clone. You can use both these accounts to log in at the same time in the same phone. Y69 is equipped with three card slots giving you more choices and flexibility. Two sim card slots support 4G, 3G & 2G networks, where in the third one supports micro SD card up to 256G Verdict: If you are looking for a good selfie phone with good camera features in sub 15k segment then this is a phone you can opt for.

FEATURED

HGD Showcased their entire product line at India Mobile Congress

The first ever Mobile, Internet and Technology event in India – India Mobile Congress 2017 kicked-off with a grand ceremony at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Hon’ble Minister Shri Manoj Sinha, Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications), inaugurated the event as Chief Guest in the presence of Guest of Honour Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, Hon’ble Minister Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Priyank Kharge, Hon’ble Minister of IT & Bio-Technology and Tourism Department, Karnataka, Mr. K. T. Rama Rao Hon’ble Minister of IT, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Telangana and Mr. Satish Mahana, Minister of Industrial Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

The senior dignitaries from the Government also included the presence of Smt. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary (T) & Chairperson, Telecom Commission, Department of Telecommunications and Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, MeitY. HGD India who are now the largest manufacturer of quality dual USB chargers, showcased their entire range from Travel chargers,with 2 USB ports ; fast charging travel adopters etc.

“The Mobile Accessories market is growing rapidly due to high adoption of mobile devices such as smartphone and tablets. The modern-day Smartphone have limited battery life and are unable to endure heavy usage that in turn

increasing the demand of power banks which is supporting the mobile accessories market. “We provide quality solutions to our clients that exceed both their expectations and industry standards. Our clients appreciate us for prompt deliveries and cost-effective designing.” Mr Rakesh Yadav, Director, HDG India Today HGD India is the leading manufacturer and provider of mobile chargers the OEM customers in India.

They have their charger manufacturing units in Noida (UP) and Haryana, close to the India’s national capital. Today, HGD India provides mobile chargers to the leading brands such as Lava, Intex, Micromax and Karbonn, among others.

HGD China (SZ) is reputed company providing power adapters and mobile chargers for China & Overseas markets, where HGD India is mainly focusing on providing mobile chargers for the Indian market.

The three day event includes a conclave, an exhibition and an awards ceremony, and also has thematic pavilions and innovation zones, spread across 15,000 square meters, featuring 300 exhibitors from ICT, TMT as well as the Government sector, Embassies and States. The International event is expected to attract more than 500 start-ups, 2,000 delegates from India and other countries with 1,50,000 footfalls, he further added. The three day event has 21 sessions which will have themes like “Digital India”, “Internet Governance”, “Smart Network: The future of networking”, “Digital Identity for Digital World”,“Women in Tech”, “Cloud & Virtualization”, “Digital Infrastructure towards the Digital Economy” and many others.

Mobility october 2017

25

26

Special Story

Companies are focusing on manufacturing trendy protective cases to cater to demands from a growing number of fashion conscious consumers in India. As a result of the increasing demand for stylish protective cases, various fashion brands in India have started designing and selling fancy protective mobile cases.

The India mobile phone accessories market has grown significantly in recent years with immense opportunities owing to substantial growth in the worldwide adoption of smartphones and tablets. Decreasing prices of mobile phones is increasing smartphone penetration, which in turn is surging the growth of the India mobile phone accessories market. Increasing disposable income has transformed consumer buying and spending trends mainly in urban areas. Adoption of mobile devices amongst the youth across the globe has provided a robust stimulus for the growth of the market. Moreover, increasing internet penetration has uplifted the trend of online retailing in the India mobile phone accessories market due to convenience of cash on delivery payment option and various price discounts along with a wide variety of products offered by e-retailers. This is anticipated to catalyse the growth of the India mobile phone accessories market.

According to a Future Market Insights report titled “Mobile Phone Accessories Market: India Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026”, the mobile phone accessories market in India will reach a value of $3.5bn$4bn by the end of 2026, registering a growth of 10.4% with further penetration of Internet. Such statistical figures show that India is the most lucrative market for mobile phone accessories and would hence see an impressive growth.

Growing consumer preference for music-on-the-go has led to the popularity of headphones and earphones.

Recent trends in the headphone/earphone segment include the introduction of wireless technology and IoT, which are expected to witness rapid adoption during the assessment period Batteries are the most essential component of mobile devices; however, they have a limited life span after which they need to be replaced. Consumers willingly spend on replacing their existing batteries with new ones as it

Mobility october 2017

improves the performance of their mobile devices without spending a considerable amount. Hence, batteries with a longer life are fast gaining popularity amongst consumers in India.

Scenario of mobile accessories market in India According to Rajesh Doshi, Director, Zebronics India Pvt Ltd, the mobile accessories have always had an upper hand in the market with mobile phones being a necessity for one and all. The accessories market is evolving largely because of mobile boom, therefore also increasing the demand for accessories like power bank, portable speakers, headphones, earphones, headsets, car chargers, and cables. With the 4G coming to place people want to explore options of wireless devices like Bluetooth headphones/ speaker allowing seamless portable audio/video options.

Upgraded phones require power-bank that come with fast charge for intense 4G usage as mobile phone are the primary computing device for many.

“Every market space evolves as per the needs of consumers and the present external environment. Let’s take power banks as an example. With heavy usage of phones (and to some level power cuts) have led to the increase in demand for power banks. There is also the case of power banks being able to charge more than one phone and at a faster rate compared to when it’s plugged in to a power source. Additionally, many a times when one is out somewhere or at home too there is no close by power source to charge your phone that is when the power bank comes in handy. Considering all these scenarios, the demand for power banks has been on a constant rise. Recently we have introduced a range of power banks as a part of our ‘on-thego accessories’ series, which is Polymer Cell series of Power Banks with 6000mAh, 8000mAh,1000mAh & 20000mah & 13000mAH Ion Series capacities that ensure users’ phones are charged even on the go. The accessories segment has

Special Story

evolved from wires to now wireless, with VR additions along with phones and evolved car chargers & high amp chargers as well. The market, in my opinion, will grow manifold in the coming years,” said, Manish Gupta, Business Head - Mobile Accessories, Intex Technologies.

“Mobile Accessories, especially electronic accessories market in India, is shifting steadily from unorganised to organised branded products and players. The market itself is growing a significant rate of 10% and above. Consumers in this market are also becoming more and more aware of quality concerns and features are thus shifting away from a solely price-driven mindset. New Categories and innovations are being added to this market at an extremely fast pace, expanding the market equally fast but making product lifecycles very small,” opine Komal Agarwal, Director (Marketing) at Pebble Mobile Accessories.

“The India mobile phone accessories market has grown significantly in recent years with immense opportunities owing to substantial growth in the worldwide adoption of smartphones and tablets. Decreasing prices of mobile phones is increasing smartphone penetration, which in turn is surging the growth of the India mobile phone accessories market. Increasing disposable income has transformed consumer buying and spending trends mainly in urban areas. Adoption of mobile devices amongst the youth across the globe has provided a robust stimulus for the growth of the market. Moreover, increasing internet penetration has

uplifted the trend of online retailing in the India mobile phone accessories market due to convenience of cash on delivery payment option and various price discounts along with a wide variety of products offered by e-retailers. This is anticipated to catalyze the growth of the India mobile phone accessories market,” said, N.D. Mali, Director, KDM TELECOM SOLUTIONS PVT LTD. “The growing adoption of smartphones is the key factor for boosting growth of the mobile accessories market.

Rising personal disposable income and rising digitization are attracting consumers in India to opt for advanced accessories for their smartphones. Moreover, availability of smartphone accessories through online distribution channel gaining huge customer interest and also increasing popularity of advanced products among consumers. Users today, not only go for accessories to style their handheld devices but also look at mobile phone accessories to enhance productivity. Which is why Logitech’s products like K480, K380, K375s, which are keyboards that can connect to one’s mobile phone via Bluetooth, have been extremely successful for us? These provide comfort & enhance efficiency for the end user with their ergonomic design and feature rich proposition. These products have been major drivers of demand for us,” said, Ashok Jangra, Cluster Category Head- India & South West Asia at Logitech.

“There are two types of markets which exists, organised and unorganized. By saying organized I mean the known

Mobility october 2017

27

28

Special Story

brands or lesser known brands and unorganized means unknown brands mushroomed within the grey market. The growth in this market has piggy backed on the growth that the mobile market has seen in past few years. The market is yet to evolve in terms of trust worthiness and also in terms of understanding the technical know-how of a product usage.

The change is there but still there is long journey ahead.

Actually this is has lot to do with educating the customer,” added, Vikram Kalia Director Sales and Marketing of Adit Infratel Pvt. Ltd. “Mobile accessories market is evolving a rapid pace this is due to convergence of various technologies into mobile devices. The pace at which this market is changing and growing is increasing every year and we have reached a point where we will very soon see our phones turn into an integrated device with various functionality as diverse as a tool to measure distances or use it as a desktop computer.

In the past mobile accessories were used to solve a single purpose working with logic but in the near future all these devices will be connected to the cloud and have smart assistants and triggers built in. e.g. Today there are various door locks available in the market which will unlock with the touch of your hand if you are wearing a compatible smart ring on your finger and the same ring will also work as a fitness tracker,” said, J. S. Ahuja, Akasaki Technology Pvt.

Mobility october 2017

Ltd. “ The accessories has been growing at much faster pace but after GST it has slowed down as market is still not settled but this business is very exciting new models, new technology everything happening very fast,” added, Rohit Agarwal, CEO at Astrum Electronics India Pvt Ltd. “India has a huge potential in the future in the mobile accessories market & according to the current trend it is growing every year at a rate of 15%. Currently, the industry stands around 6700 crores. The accessories market in India is highly crowded. However, it does not have any known global brand. The market is filled with low quality products and unorganized local brands. The consumers have to buy USB cables time and again due to the secondary quality of accessories offered by existing players in the market,” said, Manish Prasad, India, South Asia and South East Asia Sales and Business Development Director, Avenir Telecom. “ As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( TRAI ), approx. over one billion mobile phones were being used in India by the end of September 2017. Such staggering statistical figures attest that India serves as the most lucrative country globally, when it comes to the mobile phone accessories market revenue growth. Along with China, India will continue to predominantly contribute towards development of the mobile phone accessories

Special Story market in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Change in lifestyle and preference for comfort and simplicity drive the demand for charger, wireless mobile phone accessories & earphones segment has witnessed tremendous demand in developing nations such as India, China, and Brazil. In the future, these countries are expected to contribute a notable share in the mobile accessories market, thereby offering growth opportunities,” concluded, Rakesh Yadav, Director, HGD India.

Major Trends Every new trend is a result of a cause and the major trends in accessories have developed due the rise in demand for mobile phones which gives a great scope to mobile accessories to rise in demand. Moreover, the accessories are not limited to being compatible with just the smart phone but can be used for other products as well, which broadens their scope.

“Advancement in technology is always welcomed by customers, which gives an opportunity to increase product portfolios and provide various accessories. Keeping in mind

According to Komal Agarwal of Pebbles, the audio Gadgets such as headphones and earphones have always been and will continue to be one of the top-selling mobile phone accessories in India. However, the customer demand from wired to wireless has been significant and will continue to be such. R&D is being done to improve wireless connectivity distances, more ergonomic and specialized designs for various types of users. Wireless Earbuds have become a growing trend as well for a regular user who is always on the go. Power Banks have already become an almost essential accessory to Phones. The current innovation in this segment is trending towards lighter, sleeker power banks that can carry higher capacities, have inbuilt sturdy cables and can fast charge multiple devices at the same time. USB Chargers with higher current outputs (2.4A and above), more stable and rugged braided cables, QC technology and the move towards Type-C Connectors are the main innovations for fast charging and going to gain much more traction and become mainstream by 2018. Wireless Chargers are another trend that will soon become common.

the wireless generation, we have launched Wireless Ear Phones BT 13 which has a sporty look with excellent sound quality. It is designed specifically for sports and health/ fitness enthusiasts so that the wires don’t come in their way while exercising and they can listen to music as well. We have also enhanced our mobile accessories vertical with the launch of multi-purpose Car Inverter charger - DC-200 for professionals on the move. The red color Car Inverter model DC-200 is a 200W power charger having AC Socket, 2 USBs and Cigarette Lighter Socket that allows 4 devices to be charged at one time. Pricing is also one of the key aspects for establishing a prominent market presence and Intex’s product range, like always, is priced in a manner that it is affordable for everyone and serves their needs as well,” said, Manish Gupta of Intex Technologies.

“Growing consumer preference for music-on-the-go has led to the popularity of headphones and earphones. Recent trends in the headphone/earphone segment include the introduction of wireless technology, which are expected to witness rapid adoption during the assessment period,” said, N.D.Mali of KDM TELECOM.

Currently, very few phones support wireless charging, thus, the wireless chargers are limited in the market as well. With the increase in such smartphones, wireless charging will soon become mainstream.

“Multi-device connectivity is one of the key trends driving the industry. Consumers today use multiple hardware platforms and, hence, require accessories which can be connected across platforms like handsets, tablets & laptops.

At Logitech, we design products keeping in mind consumer needs. According to us, this is what true innovation constitutes. Hence – one trend that we definitely think will change the way consumers look at accessories are MultiDevice accessories. For example, products like Logitech K480 and Logitech K380- these devices are empowered to connect to three devices, namely a phone, tablet or laptop at the same time. Also, in terms of devices- users want their hardware sturdier and more durable. They want devices that can acclimatize to any condition- which explains the presence of life resistant speakers in our portfolio, from our subsidiary brand Ultimate Ears, like the Wonder boom speakers that are ready to deal with whatever challenge is

Mobility october 2017

29

30

Special Story

put forth to them, without compromising on the quality of sound,” said, Ashok Jangra of Logitech.

“Fancy things and trendy designs is what people looking at. Most of the stuff is imported as CBU or assembled in India. The major product category ruling the market is currently power banks and chargers. Other accessories like cables etc are not contributing in terms of value but provide decent bottom-line,” added, Vikram Kalia of Advent.

“Trends in India have always lagged behind the global trends. Wearables are going to be a whole new industry, in the near future we will have smarter wearables which will work in coherence with other devices to help your life easier to live. I see 360 degree camera , AR accessories as major trend setters in the very immediate future as these are low hanging fruits that just about mature to be plucked,” said, J.S. Ahuja of Akasaki. “People have started becoming more quality conscious and looking for more advanced products,” added, Manish Prasad of Avenir Telecom.

“The global mobile phone accessories market has been segmented on the basis of products into protective case, headphone/earphone, charger, memory card, battery,

their existing batteries with new ones as it improves the performance of their mobile devices without spending a considerable amount. Hence, batteries with a longer life are fast gaining popularity amongst consumers in India “ Other than selfie-sticks and power banks, Indian consumers are investing in accessories which enhance their productivity and fit into their lifestyle. Products like Drop proof & water resistant Bluetooth Speakers are leading the way among millennials. In addition to this, consumers are also looking at wireless keyboards & mice which are picking up in a big way as consumers are increasingly using more devices,” said, Ashok Jangra of Logitech.

“Fast Charging and Slim Power Banks and Chargers & Bluetooth Speakers & Bluetooth Headphones are in great demand in the market,” added, Komal Agarwal of Pebbles.

“India is still a developing market and the market still is cost driven. Given these circumstances chargers, batteries , hands free and Bluetooth devices are still the market drivers.

As more and more people get access to smart devices and wearables these demands will dramatically change within a matter of next 2 years,” opine, Akasaki. “Speakers, chargers

power bank, portable speaker, and others. The market is also segmented by price range into premium, mid, and low; and on the basis of distribution channels into multi-brand store (further sub-segmented into organised store and independent store), single-brand store, and online store,” opined, Rakesh Yadav, Director, HGD India.

“We’ve witnessed a growing trend for superior quality headphones/earphones/headsets, portable audio, power banks and cables. Power Banks off-course are one of the essential things people carry with them almost everywhere.

The technology boom has also directly impacted the need for mobile accessories. People are looking at various options like wired headphones, Bluetooth headphones/speaker, and different kinds to suit their taste,” concluded, Rajesh Doshi of Zebronics.

and cables are in great demand in the market,” added, Rohit Aggarwal of Astrum.

“High quality USB Cables has a huge demand in the Indian market as many players currently do not offer quality accessories. We seek this as a great opportunity for Energizer due to the quality of products and durable goods which we offer along with 2 years of product warranty. We have received tremendous response from the market and consumers are accepting the brand well,” said, Manish Prasad of Avenir Telecom. “ The Mobile Accessories market is growing rapidly due to high adoption of mobile devices such as smartphone and tablets. The modern-day Smartphone have limited battery life and are unable to endure heavy usage that in turn increasing the demand of power banks which is supporting the mobile accessories market. Due to increase in smartphone users dual USB chargers is in trend, H.G.D India is the largest manufacturer of quality dual USB chargers. H.G.D India also understood the need of frequent travellers , so it also has a elite class range of Travel

Mobile Accessories in Demand According to N. D. Mali of KDM TELECOM, the batteries are the most essential component of mobile devices; however, they have a limited life span after which they need to be replaced. Consumers willingly spend on replacing

Mobility october 2017

Special Story

chargers ,with 2 USB ports & fast charging travel adopters, The demand of which is increasing day by day,” said, Rakesh Yadav, Director, HGD India..

“Mostly Charging cables, high speed adaptors, quick charging power banks, metal earphones and tempered glass are in High demand and we (SANTRONIC) have all these product quality selling well in PAN India,” added, Santosh Prasad, Founder and Chairman- Santronic Technology Pvt Ltd “ Power banks are always in demand. Overall this segment is rewarding, a lot of products are being planned for this segment including top of line 20000mah power bank with fast charge. We had launched wireless HDMI dongle ZEB-CAST100 sometime back and this product has been well received in the market. Our headphones/ speaker segment has also fared well and is still getting a good response. We’re planning to launch a lot more on the headphones/speakers front. In earphone segment, we are planning to launch a new true wireless earphone ‘Air Duo’ in next few days. It’s a premium quality earphone with true wireless capability, earphones are wireless without a chord between them making them a stand-alone earpiece.

We’re making sure that the pairing between the earphone and mobile phone is effortless. We have also launched

high-quality cables for mobile phones and the response has been incredibly good, launching new cables with even higher durability and 5A support is currently being planned.

Car chargers are also something that we’re planning to introduce. A unique new car charger with a built-in earphone is also in the pipeline, this product again comes with effortless pairing process,” said, Rajesh Doshi of Zebronics.

Mobile accessories make the overall smart phone experience better and therefore is an ideal segment that will see demand. For Intex, the products with highest demand have been batteries, chargers and Power Bank, since it is designed in a way to suit everyone’s needs.

“Intex has been in the space of mobile accessories in India since 2011, wherein it has been designing and developing mobile accessories. Intex’s vast experience includes a product portfolio that has been distributed across India by some of the largest distribution channels.

Customers get to know about the product portfolio either through retail outlets, online platforms or through multiple bundling and promotional offers that have been executed in conjunction with some of the largest Indian brands in the telecom sector. Intex as a brand encompasses the learning over the last four years and offers products to the clients that are of extremely good value for money. These products

Mobility october 2017

31

32

Special Story

meet global quality standards and are shipped directly from the factories in India,” concluded, Manish Gupta of Intex Technologies.

Indian Brand Making Difference According to Vikram Kalia of Advent, for manufacturing, if I have to post it like a relationship status on facebook I will quote “It’s complicated”. GST has made life tough for Indian manufacturers. Actually speaking there are no benefits left. Even for the manufacturers in the Excise free zones there is no clarity. Moreover unplanned and unorganized announcements by the government here and there about allowing the benefits to these manufacturers without any commitment on dates are just adding to the woes of Indian manufacturers. I think today most of the manufacturers are still waiting for Achhe Din. For the brand owners it may still make sense to manufacture if they have substantial volumes.

But if they think manufacturing themselves would buy them a castle then they will fall flat. Some products look easier to manufacture but when you actually do manufacturing you realize the difference. Many companies have closed their operations in past.

“The ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government has made an immense difference in promoting home grown products. Majority of our accessories are manufactured

Mobility october 2017

in India. Our Power Banks, Batteries, Chargers and car chargers are manufactured at our plants. The products manufactured in India make sure that they are designed in a manner that suits the Indian consumer,” said, Manish Gupta of Intex Technologies.

“Make in India is a movement that the government has introduced with benefits to the manufacturing segment, this movement helps us reduce cost and use materials available in India. Make in India will give every manufacturer to explore and take a chance of the benefits which will then help, not only build a product but to create multiple job opportunities,” said, Rajesh Doshi of Zebronics.

“It is making it easy for traders to purchase in smaller quantities in one go since it is local procurement, unlike Import, where MOQs need to be much higher to achieve economies of scale,” added, Komal Agarwal of Pebble.

“Local manufacturing helps in minimising the material to market cycle which has multiplier effect - be it faster supplies & more efficient capital utilisation. This eventually benefits the consumer offering not only faster availability but also more affordable price,” added, Ashok Jangra of Logitech.

“Manufacturing in India is going to create the next wave of market leaders in this Industry, in current business scenario government regulation and direction seems to

Special Story be incentivizing Make In India. There is a huge gap of supporting industries in this segment as raw materials are still to be sourced from outside our borders. But still manufacturing here in the near future is only going to help keep costs of products in control and create better market penetration in this segment because without supporting industries innovation still seems a farfetched idea,” added, J.S. Ahuja of Akasaki.

“In most cases It is more of a assembly setup then real manufacturing at PCB / chip level yes it will improve our economy by creating more jobs and having better quality control on the product,” said, Rohit Agarwal of Astrum.

“A number of brands have recently started manufacturing accessories in India. Unfortunately, the quality of the products still remains the same and the consumers have to compromise on the quality aspect even though there are numerous brands available in the market. In this scenario, Energizer gives a breakthrough to the consumers with durable and quality mobile accessories with similar price range,” said, Manish Prasad of Avenir Telecom.

“New innovative technology and will come in India.

Competition will increase, & this is will leads to quality products at cheap price to customers. Research and

development will increase to make products better and better,” added, Rakesh Yadav, Director, HGD India..

“Every day new sub standard accessories brands are launching and closing their office in India. Most of the companies are coming with the vision of capturing local accessories market in flourishing in their own regions through retail shops and chain outlets but due to sub standard material and stiff price competition from GREY market players mostly give up and close the brands. Own Indian companies like SANTRONIC are working hard to improve the product quality standard of Indian accessories market and trying its best to give good products at best price so that every person should have quality products in India,” said, Santosh Prasad of Santronic.

“As the manufacturing of mobile accessories in India is increasing, the quality of mobile accessories will improve significantly in India. And to a large extent, their prices will also decrease as all the expense will be reduced, thereby increasing the value of mobile accessories market,”

concluded, Director, N. D.Mali of KDM TELECOM. Is manufacturing or assembling in India has an edge over importing accessories from China?

According to Rajesh Doshi, Zebronics, Manufacturing/ assembling in India has an edge over importing accessories from China since the GST has been introduced and a levy of taxes have been reduced especially from the manufacturing side giving them more leeway to manufacture in India. You can say that the movement is slowly picking up in India as ancillaries for setting up such manufacturing units are still upgrading. Few years down the line we should have an edge over China in manufacturing the accessories.

“Products manufactured or assembled in India keeps in mind the Indian consumers specifically; some products imported might not suit the Indian consumers and therefore will not satisfy their needs. Then quality check can be done properly if products are made in India. Also to do this we need labor as well which helps generate employment opportunities for the people in India as well. If the products are all imported, then a company loses in serving the country by increasing employment opportunities,” said, Manish Gupta of Intex Technologies.

“India definitely is the most promising manufacturing

destination and the recent investments are a testimony to the same. Local manufacturing is the way to go since companies can’t ignore attractive demographics, demand and lower manpower cost. Not only will it lead to faster money rotation but also shorter logistic lead time,” opine, Ashok Jangra of Logitech.

“Grass always looks greener over the other side.

Technically speaking there is not much gap left between imports and domestic manufacturing. Innovation and improvisation is the only key to stay afloat in today’s economic scenario,” said, Vikram Kalia of Advent.

“In the way the trend of manufacturing in India is increasing in brands and companies, accordingly, it seems.

Imports of mobile accessories may be reduced to a lesser extent but so far the manufacturing of raw materials in India is getting very low therefore, it may take a long time to stop imposing completely from China,” said, N. D. Mali of KDM Telecom.

Mobility october 2017

33

34

Special Story

“Yes manufacturing in India is going to have its advantages but also at the same time have its shortcomings.

India still doesn’t have the necessary tools and machinery to create the quality that is available globally and investing in technologies is not smart at this point as the Indian consumer is still cost driven and companies might not get to recover their costs very easily given the accessories market is changing rapidly, there is always the threat of the product becoming redundant before its life cycle ends. Importing from China has recently started to attract higher duties and more stringent norms which is going to push some companies to see assembling as the next step but that still means importing raw materials from China to keep their processes going. There is a shift in this industry towards manufacturing in India but has a long way to go and for markets to recover from the shock of recent changes in government regulation and market policies,” said, J.S. Ahuja of Akasaki.

“Yes it has edge as there are subsidy being provided by government to promote manufacturing in India in future more and more brands will setup manufacturing in India today we can proudly say that we are one of the manufacturing hub for Automobile industry but it has taken more than a decade same is bound to happen for all products the way government is promoting,” added, Rohit Agarwal of Astrum.

“Presently, the existing international brands continue to import manufactured accessories from China instead of manufacturing or assembling the products in India, considering the current manufacturing scenario in India which lacks an ecosystem. With the growth of accessories sector in India along with a growing consumer demand for quality products, we expect a positive change in the next few years,” said, Manish Prasad of Anevir Telecom.

“We started our factory with assembly of chargers with imported parts of chargers but now a day each part of charger we produce in India. Make in India drive is replicating good impacts in Indian mobile markets, Its

Mobility october 2017

growing in full swing. Many Chinese investors are coming with technical expertise and creative skills along with foreign capital. New avenues will open for Indian mobile & mobile accessories manufacturer for export markets,” said, Rakesh Yadav, Director, HGD India.

“For putting assembly accessories factories in India is to meet the price range of “non-standard, un-qualified and uncertified products” of GREY markets. Generally, our India grey market operators/traders they visit to Shantou/ Shenzhen/Dongguan and Huizhou of China and buy the non-standard products from household factories/ single room factories in USD/Kilo or per sack basis and illegally import to India without BIS certification, under invoicing etc and destroying the Indian market quality standard and price. Unless and until this pain area is strictly restricted

by Indian customs and government agencies we feel that Indian accessories market will be always depends upon china for cheap and non standard products. I still feel that Indian accessories industry will need time to get matured to develop in-house molds, toolings, design, components, parts for producing good quality products till then we have depend on Chinese Industries to supply components and finished goods at cost effective basis,” concluded, Santosh Prasad of Santronic Technology Pvt Ltd. At Last Demand for fancy and stylish protective cases have gained popularity as fashion accessories in urban parts of India. Companies are focusing on manufacturing trendy protective cases to cater to demands from a growing number of fashion conscious consumers in India. As a result of the increasing demand for stylish protective cases, various fashion brands in India have started designing and selling fancy protective mobile cases Preference for comfort and simplicity is drawing demand for wireless mobile phone accessories, especially in the earphone and chargers segment. Although demand for wireless is currently concentrated in developed nations, owing to the high price of such devices, in the next couple of years, wireless mobile phone accessories are expected to become more ubiquitous.

36

Guest Column

Space Is The New King This Festive Season For Smartphone Buyers

By Mr. Joginder Chhabra GM/ Market Intelligence and Consumer Insights, Intex Technologies

The Indian Smartphone industry is currently going through aggressive roll out and consolidation of 4G Technology , although 30 -35% of the users are still using 3G/2G networks only. Consumer dynamics in India change rapidly and the last few quarters have seen growing preferences for certain features such as full metal body, finger print sensor , dual lens camera , dual SIM , 4000 & above mAH Battery, 4G Volte connectivity, Higher RAM / ROM combination, etc.

However, the converging point of the all latest trends is the increasing need for internal memory (space) requirement, which in turn will drive more and more data & voice usage. Space indeed is the new king this festive season and most of the manufacturers are providing the right combination of above mentioned specs with higher memory (RAM) to target the new age Indian consumer.

The fast changing usage patterns of Indian smartphone consumers are largely responsible for increased demand for internal storage space. India has just exceeded the US market in terms of Google play downloads. Interestingly, a majority of the first time internet users in India are coming online via smartphones and also spending (on an average) more than 40% of their time on mobile devices (mostly on entertainment apps followed by social media apps). Most of

Mobility october 2017

these factors are directly or indirectly responsible for more demand for RAM. Due to increasing demand for space, more and more Brands have started providing (1+8) & (2+16) [RAM + ROM] combinations with 4G connectivity in much more affordable range. There has been a drop of 30 -35% average price for these combinations since last year and the trend is likely to continue in the near future.

The overall demand for smartphones is further set to increase by 10-12% on account of consumers upgrading to 4G smartphones with higher RAM configurations at a much faster pace mostly due to relatively lower costs than before.

The space/ memory demand for smartphone is further going to be of critical importance due to the Indian consumer’s increased preference for multiple apps, increased TV and movie viewing on smartphones and likely to increase in Digital Video Consumption.

In conclusion, a higher RAM configuration means more processes and more apps running simultaneously go with fluid and seamless smartphone experience. The brands which will provide right / optimum combination of RAM / ROM with their respective USPs will be clear winners in the near future in the Indian Market.

38

app

Emergence of style and need for digital stylists Fashion maybe based on the moment but style is eternal”- Coco Chanel

By Mr. Teja Gudluru CEO & Founder, UDo

What can be a better way to bring up the essence of style than through the iconic maven, Coco Chanel! Although Chanel has become the biggest signifier of how fashion has been eroded into it’s current plastic form, Coco’s belief on style has found a greater connect amongst connoisseurs and trend setters alike. It is certainly true that style has succeeded in setting itself apart from its toxic twin fashion as the origins remains distinctive. While style is a knowing knowledge of what suits a particular being as an extension of his or her personality, fashion is a blind, faceless following of mass produced ideas of beauty. The truth is, fashion sets to conform while style helps in standing out and the evolution of style has created a platform for itself to speak up.

Style has always run at the forefront, with practicality in mind. Those stripper heels that stars and fashionist as Kumar Gupta sport is the dictation of fashion, styleAshoek is donning stilettos at a Optiemus Infracom Ltd. cocktail party- everything is plausible, depending upon the occasion. It is this practicality that has elevated it’s position to that of a regular feature in any person’s daily functions.

In fact, in this day and age, occasional styling has become a harrowing part of the daily discourse that one remains apprehensive in partaking. Let’s be realistic here, styling oneself according to the requirements of the occasion has become difficult- we are bombarded by options which makes it difficult for us to pick and choose. Here, an assistant would come of much use.

Stylists- personal or professional help us look the best for any event. They come aboard with a great knowledge on body types and nuances of occasional dressing to provide the best assistance to make us shine. Yet, personal stylists are often known to have a steep asking price and hence come synonymous with affluence and expense. Fortunately for us, this is the era of digital styling, with most of the traditional platforms giving away to modern age amenities,

Mobility october 2017

personal styling has also garnered a new-aged daughter in the form of personal styling app. Those who have always dreamt of availing the facilities of a personal assistant, without the clause of shelling out half of their earnings can go to these platforms for instant guidance for the ultimate look.

Mavericks at advice, UDo, has set forth to simplify this herculean task. For those unaware, UDo is a one-stop-app for any advice one would need, including fashion. Here, one can connect to an actual fashion enthusiast to talk about trends, brands that fulfil your requirements. Alongside, if you are a fashion enthusiast, you can sign up as a fashion expert and make passive income by helping and advising others. The beauty of UDo lies in its flexibility and simplicityit can be a saviour for that cousin’s wedding, without going helter-skelter for lack of options.

Salient Features l When you go to a store and are confused about various brands, you don’t have to waste time looking around every brand as you can call UDo’s in-house experts and they will help you go to the right brand l If you are cluttered with thousands of ‘Discount’ or ‘Sale’ messages and lost, you can avail the help of UDo buddies, to set you out of the unnecessary clamour. l Need help in Image management? Want to look dapper? Get consultation on what to wear and what not to, in any occasion l Preparing for an interview? Get tips on power dressing based on the field of work l Get additional discounts and offers for using the app

You can find a friend who is ready to see you through the tricky ropes of dressing through the app. So don’t wait, find a friend in the pocket- through UDo!

Date of Pub: 10th October, 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