HTC eyes 15% market share in India

Taiwanese smartphone maker plans to be in at least 100 cities

Taiwan-based handset manufacturer HTC plans to raise its share of the Indian smartphone market to 15 per cent in two years.

The company recently announced its foray into the sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone segment with its HTC Desire 210 dual SIM phone for Rs 8,700. Faisal Siddiqui, country head, HTC India, said though the launch was global, the entry level smartphone was designed for India.

“Almost 50 per cent of the smartphone market in India is below Rs 10,000. A fortnight ago we also unveiled smartphones in the Rs 20,000 range. India is the third largest smartphone market. Though we will have a portfolio of products we will not launch 30-40 phones,” he added.

Compared to Samsung, Micromax and Karbonn, HTC has been slow to gain market share in India. Siddiqui, however, pointed out the performance was good for a company that has been in existence for eight years. “Three years ago our market share was just about one per cent, at present it is four-six per cent. Three years ago, the HTC India Facebook page had just about 1,000 fans, today we have 4.7 million. We are getting the Indian user’s mind share,” he added.

HTC is also eyeing smaller Indian cities to increase sales. “We plan to be in at least 100 cities as we expand our portfolio and also enter the sub-Rs 10,000 category. By the end of this year, we will have expanded our channel partner network too. We have about 5,000 outlets so far, we will take them to 6,000-7,000 by the end of this year,” Siddiqui said.

India is one of the world’s fastest growing smartphone markets. In 2013, about 41.1 million smartphones were shipped to the country, up from 15.1 million in 2012, according to CyberMedia Research. Siddiqui said the numbers were expected to be around 60 million in 2014.

India is crucial for HTC, as it is among the top five markets for the cellphone manufacturer. All recent launches — HTC desire 210, Desire 860 and HTC One M8 — were done in India. But HTC must gear up its marketing to compete with Samsung, Micromax and Karbonn. In 2013, Samsung’s share of India’s smartphone market was 40.4 per cent, Micromax’s share was 15.7 per cent and Karbonn’s was 11.1 per cent, according CyberMedia Research.

INDIA GOAL

• Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC plans to be in at least 100 cities
• To raise number of outlets to 6,000-7,000 by the end of this year from 5,000 now
• India among HTC’s top 5 markets
• In 2013, Samsung led with 40.4% share of India’s smartphone market, followed by Micromax at 15.7% and Karbonn at 11.1%