Eyeing 300 per cent growth in its India smartphone sales, Chinese telecom major Huawei today launched two new 4G phones under the Honor brand.
"We have seen good response in India. This year we expect a large number of feature phone users to convert to smartphone and that is where our focus is. We are looking for 300 per cent growth in smartphones sales in India and Honor 5X and Holly 2 Plus are crucial for this," Huawei India President of Consumer Business Group Allen Wang told PTI.
Huawei sold one million smartphones in 2015 that includes 8,00,000 Honor branded phones.
Globally, Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015 and became the third largest player after Apple and Samsung.
The company today launched first metallic Honor phone 5X with expandable storage of up to 128 GB for Rs 12,999. It has Qualcomm's octa-core processor, 3,000 mAh battery, 13 megapixel main camera and 5MP front camera.
"The phone comes with a premium aircraft grade metal that offers 5 layer heat sinks with copper shielding cover. It is full HD phone can be unlocked in 0.5 seconds. Honor 5X is a dual-sim phone where one slot is from nano-sim and other micro sim," Huawei India Vice President Sales Consumer Business Group P Snajeev said.
The company also launched Holly 2 Plus 4G smartphone for Rs 8,499. It has 4,000 mAh battery that support high-speed data service like video, music etc.
"Holly 2 Plus can deliver up to 48 hours of continued usage with 4,000 mAh battery. It can support 20 hours of usage with 10 per cent battery by switching the phone to ultra power saving mode. This phone features reverse charging technology so it can charge another smartphone or tablet using a micro-B USB cable," Sanjeev said
The phone supports both GSM and CDMA network as well and is specially designed for India market.
"Today what we are launching, our competitors will launch similar products in 5-6 months but we are not entering into price war. We are looking experience of customers and with Honor our strategy at present is to catch youth and convert feature phone user to smartphone," Wang said.
He said that company will keep the price at levels where it gets enough margin to plough it back in to research and development.
"A mobile can be made just by a team of 10 people but we have look at customers experience. We have our own chipsets, our own emotion UI and many patents. There are about 1.7 lakh Huawei employees working in R&D so you can imagine the effort we make in creating a product," Wang said.
In India, Huawei has around 3,000 people in R&D and 500 work on phones exclusively.
(Photo: http://photos.Prnewswire.Com/prnh/20160828/401936 )
"This center demonstrates how India with its vast technologically skilled manpower can help address the requirements of the global market. This center also adds value to the Indian Information Communication & Technology (ICT) industry and helps strengthen the industry eco-system in India," he continued.
Located within Huawei's Research and Development (R&D) campus in Bengaluru, the GSC is currently home to over 1,000 engineers, network operations specialists and support staff.
The India GSC currently handles more than 50 projects, supporting over 30 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, serving over 350 million subscribers. The new GSC will support operators digital transformation and help meet market demand for synergies between services and technology, as well as improve operations capabilities.
The inauguration ceremony was graced by Guest of Honor - Mr. Li Baijun, Economic and Commercial Counsellor, China Embassy; as well as customers, business partners, Huawei senior leaders and employees.
Commenting on Huawei's new GSC, Mr. Jay Chen, CEO, Huawei India said, "India has always been a priority market for us and we have been investing here right from 1999 when we opened our R&D center in Bengaluru - the first one outside China. The inauguration of this center, our largest GSC, further reaffirms our commitment to India. The new GSC supports the 'Make in India' vision by harnessing local talent, coupled with the infusion of hi-tech R&D expertise and knowledge into the country, to play a pivotal role in creating a collaborative framework that will help our customers reach the next level of business performance.
In the fast-changing digital world, Huawei will cooperate
extensively with key partners across India to solidify a thriving ecosystem, and work closely with its customers to drive digital transformation that meets their specific industry needs while building a better connected world.
About Huawei:
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider with the vision to enrich life through communication. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives our customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei's 150,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees. For more information, please visit Huawei online: http://www.Huawei.Com
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