InFocus, a mobile phone arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), aims to be one of the top five brands in India in three years, an Indian newspaper said on Thursday.
InFocus is planning to invest US$10 million in India and hopes to sell 6 million handsets in its first year on its way to becoming one of the top five brands there, the Economic Times said in a report posted on its Web site.
Luo Zhongsheng (羅忠生), global chief executive officer for Sharp and InFocus under the Hon Hai corporate umbrella, was cited by the Economic Times as saying that the company is working initially with a 4G Volte feature phone with a price tag of 3,000 rupees (US$46.15).
The company has also set its sights on the 10,000 rupee segment as its next strategy to penetrate the Indian market, Luo said.
MARKETING HEAD
Luo served as chief executive officer of China-based smartphone brand Coolpad’s (酷派) overseas business before joining Hon Hai, where he is in charge of marketing mobile phones under the InFocus and Sharp brands.
In another report on the Hindu Business Line Web site, Luo said InFocus is planning to launch eight smartphone models and eight feature phone models in India, the world’s second-largest mobile phone market.
Starting from the end of next month, a new Hon Hai production site in Navi Mumbai is to roll out InFocus models to cater to increasing demand in India, Luo said, according to the Hindu Business Line.
OPERATIONS IN INDIA
The online report said Hon Hai, which assembles Apple Inc iPhones in China, manufactures products for Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀移動) in India at its production lines in Chennai and Sri City.
Sixty percent of the 6 million cellphones to be sold in India by InFocus in its first year are expected to be feature phones, the report said.
“The Indian market is a very important market. It is important to everyone. Also, India is a large market,” Luo was quoted as saying by the Hindu Business Line.
However, after having trouble distributing its products, the company has made some changes.
STRATEGY
“We are now changing our strategy and hiring new channel partners, bringing in more products for the Indian market and will also look at offline retail along with online,” Luo was quoted as saying.
InFocus employs about 50 people in India and is planning to boost the number to 200 by the end of this year, the report said.
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