Victor Shan, President India, Device Business Development, Huawei
Huawei, a leading telecom equipment manufacturer is planning to tap the growing smartphone market in India. The company, known mainly for its B2B products, has launched three smart- phones recently and is planning to expand its portfolio shortly. Tablets are also on the cards. Akhilesh Shukla of Business & Economy talks to Victor Shan, President India, Device Business Development, Huawei about his company’s India plans and targets
B&E: Huawei has been operating in the B2B space, even in the handset segment. What made you to go direct to the customer with the launch of smartphones?
Victor Shan (VS): The handset market in India is huge and witnessing a handsome growth. Last year 170 million units of handsets were shipped into the country, a large part of which were smartphones. Indian customers do not buy products bundled with services, unlike in the US and Europe. As a result, we at Huawei have decided to go direct to the customer with our smartphone devices. These phones will be available for sale in 10 cities through our national distributors Redington and Ingram Micro. We are confident that our new 3.5G phones will receive a good response in metros and tier II cities.
B&E: Huawei, as a handset brand, is largely unknown in India. What is your marketing strategy to promote Huawei as a handset brand?
VS: It is not that we are completely unknown to telecom subscribers in India. We have been reaching to the end customer through our data cards, available with all the major Internet service provider in India. In the early stage of our lunch we are planning to promote our handsets on digital platform as we are targeting urban youth with access to the Internet and social networking websites, including Facebook and Twitter. Further, we will promote the handsets at all the retail outlets where we are present. Talks are in an advanced stage to tie up with a leading large format retail outlet. After the completion of the first phase of the smartphone launch we will hit the mainstream media.
B&E: The after-sales service is a key requirement to surviving in the competitive handset industry. How you are planning to offer post-sale service support to Huawei’s smartphone customers?
VS: We already have authorised post-sale service centres in India for our data cards and set-top boxes. These service centres cater to the needs of the customers of 25 million Huawei devices sold in the India market so far. We have around 350 authorised post-sale service centres spread across India. Besides, we have specialised service centres at the regional level. Other than that, Huawei has two high level service centres as well. As we grow further we will add up more service centres to cater to the needs of our customers.
B&E: Every handset player is planning to launch tablets, as they are expected to be the next mass device in the market. When will we see Huawei launching tablets in India?
VS: We have ambitious plans for launching our tablets for the Indian market. Our tablets will compete with Tier II tablet brands in the market. In India we will launch two tablets in the Q3 2011 with competitive pricing, as it is a price-sensitive market. The top device will be priced at sub Rs.25,000 and the other at sub Rs.20,000. These tablets will come pre-loaded with our application store - HISPACE - with Indian specific content developed at our Bangalore R&D unit.
Huawei, a leading telecom equipment manufacturer is planning to tap the growing smartphone market in India. The company, known mainly for its B2B products, has launched three smart- phones recently and is planning to expand its portfolio shortly. Tablets are also on the cards. Akhilesh Shukla of Business & Economy talks to Victor Shan, President India, Device Business Development, Huawei about his company’s India plans and targets
B&E: Huawei has been operating in the B2B space, even in the handset segment. What made you to go direct to the customer with the launch of smartphones?
Victor Shan (VS): The handset market in India is huge and witnessing a handsome growth. Last year 170 million units of handsets were shipped into the country, a large part of which were smartphones. Indian customers do not buy products bundled with services, unlike in the US and Europe. As a result, we at Huawei have decided to go direct to the customer with our smartphone devices. These phones will be available for sale in 10 cities through our national distributors Redington and Ingram Micro. We are confident that our new 3.5G phones will receive a good response in metros and tier II cities.
B&E: Huawei, as a handset brand, is largely unknown in India. What is your marketing strategy to promote Huawei as a handset brand?
VS: It is not that we are completely unknown to telecom subscribers in India. We have been reaching to the end customer through our data cards, available with all the major Internet service provider in India. In the early stage of our lunch we are planning to promote our handsets on digital platform as we are targeting urban youth with access to the Internet and social networking websites, including Facebook and Twitter. Further, we will promote the handsets at all the retail outlets where we are present. Talks are in an advanced stage to tie up with a leading large format retail outlet. After the completion of the first phase of the smartphone launch we will hit the mainstream media.
B&E: The after-sales service is a key requirement to surviving in the competitive handset industry. How you are planning to offer post-sale service support to Huawei’s smartphone customers?
VS: We already have authorised post-sale service centres in India for our data cards and set-top boxes. These service centres cater to the needs of the customers of 25 million Huawei devices sold in the India market so far. We have around 350 authorised post-sale service centres spread across India. Besides, we have specialised service centres at the regional level. Other than that, Huawei has two high level service centres as well. As we grow further we will add up more service centres to cater to the needs of our customers.
B&E: Every handset player is planning to launch tablets, as they are expected to be the next mass device in the market. When will we see Huawei launching tablets in India?
VS: We have ambitious plans for launching our tablets for the Indian market. Our tablets will compete with Tier II tablet brands in the market. In India we will launch two tablets in the Q3 2011 with competitive pricing, as it is a price-sensitive market. The top device will be priced at sub Rs.25,000 and the other at sub Rs.20,000. These tablets will come pre-loaded with our application store - HISPACE - with Indian specific content developed at our Bangalore R&D unit.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
