Chinese Smartphone Maker KONKA Eyes Indian Market; Ties Up With MAK Mobility And Pools In $30 Million

Chinese brand KONKA is all set to enter the Indian smartphone market with a strategic tie-up with MAK Mobility. The manufacturer & global supplier of consumer electronics & smartphones has set aside US$ 30 Million for its entry. KONKA is a 30 Year old MNC with US$ 3 Billion in turn-over & currently ranks 5^th in ‘Top 10 valuable Chinese electronic Brands’ list. Its smartphones are mostly powered by Google’s Android Operating System (OS) & according to the company these handsets are aimed at “young, tech savvy, style conscious people, who want sophistication and panache”.

The Indian Smartphone market volume is currently pegged at 44 Million. Though this may seem significant, it pales in front of the Mobile market which has crossed 1 Billion Mark. Though there are cheaper & affordable handset makers like Micromax, G’Five, Spice, WishTel, Karbonn & others, the adoption rate remains at a measly 4%. When quizzed about how the company proposes to make a mark, Mr. Li Hongtao, Chairman of KONKA Telecom said, “We aim to offer quality products with novel features matching the expectations of the discerning consumers, especially the youth whose lifestyle increasingly revolves around smart devices. We plan to create localized mobile internet eco-system by providing smart devices bundled with cloud based services and applications”.

To ensure the vast Indian region is well catered to, the company has selected MAK Mobility to act as its Distribution and Supply chain management partner. Covering such a vast region is difficult, but KONKA seems to have immense faith in MAK, adds the chairman, “We were very careful in selecting our partners in India as this is a long term plan for us and we would like to bet on teams which have the proven ability to manage scale without compromising on the essentials of the business”. Coincidentally, MAK Mobility is a newly formed Device & Distribution company focused solely on developing products and solutions across the Mobility space. The company has already distributed certain models of affordable handset via the same brand name as the company.

As technology progresses, the cost of hardware is bound to fall. Ironically, the price is not the major influencing factor as demonstrated in the case of tablets. Education, awareness & availability of cheaper broadband internet are the main factors that will influence sale of these multi-faceted devices. What do you think?

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