Gionee eyes spot in top 5 smartphone tally in India

Handset maker Gionee aims to secure a spot in the top 5 tally in the Indian smartphone market by March next year as it expands its product portfolio and strengthens retail presence in the country.

The company, which competes with the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi, Lenovo and others, has also ramped up its marketing budget to around Rs 750 crore in 2017-18.

"India is a very important market for us. According to GfK data, we had the sixth position. By March 2018, we are looking at being among the top 5," Gionee India Global Sales Director David Chang told PTI.

He added that the company is bringing in a slew of devices across price points to address customers requirements.

According to a report by IDC that tracks shipments, Samsung and Xiaomi were tied at the first spot with 23.5 per cent share. Others in the top five include Lenovo-Motorola (9 per cent), vivo (8.5 per cent) and Oppo (7.9 per cent).

GfK, which tracks sales numbers, does not publicly announce these industry numbers.

"We want to bring in intuitive products. Our focus is on mid-range devices (Rs 8,000-15,000) and handsets that have great battery and camera," Chang said.

Besides, the company is investing significantly in expanding its reach to 75,000 retail points from 42,000 outlets currently.

The company will unveil the Gionee M7 Power smartphone today. The device, expected to be priced between Rs 16,000- 18,000, features 6-inch full-view display, 4GB RAM, 64 GB internal storage (expandable up to 256 GB), 13MP rear and 8MP front camera and 5,000 mAh battery. It will start retailing from November 25.

The phone supports a 3D photo feature that allows users to click photos that show the object with multiple angles for deeper details. "Going ahead, this feature will be included in all our smartphones," he said.