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Light Reading India - 4G/LTE - Chinese Smartphone Brands Go Local In India - Telecom News Analysis
In contrast with the Chinese smartphone majors—Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763), which have not been incredibly aggressive in the Indian smartphone market, a number of small Chinese smartphone vendors have silently forayed with their high-end smartphone offerings.
The lucrative smartphone market in India has already seen advent of some domestic players such as Micromax Informatics Ltd. , Karbonn Mobiles and Spice Mobiles Ltd. among others that are vying with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) with their affordable offerings.
Some of the new Chinese smartphone vendors are Konka, Gionee, Jiayu, ZOPO, and Xiamoi. Among them, Konka is the only company that entered the market with a strategic alliance with MAK Mobility, which already has its presence in the feature phone segment. MAK Mobility is providing Konka the platform for distribution and supply chain management in India.
Very recently, Konka launched its high-end range of Android powered smartphones in India, which is priced between INR-10,000 to INR 15,000. Konka's complete range is based on MediaTek's MTK6577 that features 1 GHz dual core processor.
The company is expected to launch a business smartphone range along with new smartphone line-ups in different segments.
China-based Konka recorded sales of $3 billion in 2011 and presently has over 25,000 employees, five manufacturing bases in China and three manufacturing bases in Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey.
Apart from Konka, Gionee has also launched its first high-end offering in India, called the Gionee Dream D at INR 17,999. The device has a 4.65-inch HD (1280 x 720) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection and runs on Jelly Bean Android 4.1 and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM.
Jiayu, another entrant in the Indian market has recently rolled-out Jiayu G4, priced at just INR 9,000. This smartphone comes with 4.7-inch (1280 x 720) display also with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection and runs on the Google Android 4.1 OS platform. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM.
Zopo, a Chinese Android phone manufacturer, also has a complete range of smartphones for the Indian customers priced between INR 7,000 to INR 16,000. The company also offers Quad-core processor equipped Zopo Max 950 phablet in the country for INR 17,000.
Both the Jiayu G4 and ZOPO Max 950 are powered by Mediatek's quad-core MT6589 smartphone platfor, which has already been used by Micromax for its Canvas HD A 116 phablet/smartphone. Karbonn and Spice have also adopted the same quad-core chipset for their phablet offerings. (See The Phablet Battle Gets Intense.)
Lastly there is Xiaomi, which launched the Xiaomi MI-2 at INR 17,000 in the Indian market. Xiomi is the only company among its counterparts, which used Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor. The Xiaomi MI-2 has a 4.3-inch (1280 x 720) IPS capacitive touch screen display and runs on a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, with Jelly Bean Android 4.1 OS.
Aside these small Chinese entrants, Lenovo Group Ltd. (Hong Kong: 992) will also expand its smartphone line-up tin India in 2013. Presently, Lenovo offers five Android devices priced between INR 6,500 ($122) and INR 28,500 ($535).(See Lenovo To Go Bullish In Indian Smartphone Market.)
Evidently, MediaTek's low-cost chipsets—MT6589 and MT6577—have been allowing these Chinese companies to foray into the Indian market with competitive offerings in the affordable segment for smartphones. While the entry of these vendors is relatively recent, it is most likely that existing domestic players will face aggressive competition from these Chinese companies in Tier2 and Tier 3 cities, where smartphone penetration is very low.
The price sensitive Indian market has observed 3G tariffs cut lately, which is helping 3G services to penetrate deeply. With the drop in 3G tariffs is likely to lead to a burst in demand of these affordable high-end smartphones in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
In contrast with the Chinese smartphone majors—Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763), which have not been incredibly aggressive in the Indian smartphone market, a number of small Chinese smartphone vendors have silently forayed with their high-end smartphone offerings.
The lucrative smartphone market in India has already seen advent of some domestic players such as Micromax Informatics Ltd. , Karbonn Mobiles and Spice Mobiles Ltd. among others that are vying with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) with their affordable offerings.
Some of the new Chinese smartphone vendors are Konka, Gionee, Jiayu, ZOPO, and Xiamoi. Among them, Konka is the only company that entered the market with a strategic alliance with MAK Mobility, which already has its presence in the feature phone segment. MAK Mobility is providing Konka the platform for distribution and supply chain management in India.
Very recently, Konka launched its high-end range of Android powered smartphones in India, which is priced between INR-10,000 to INR 15,000. Konka's complete range is based on MediaTek's MTK6577 that features 1 GHz dual core processor.
The company is expected to launch a business smartphone range along with new smartphone line-ups in different segments.
China-based Konka recorded sales of $3 billion in 2011 and presently has over 25,000 employees, five manufacturing bases in China and three manufacturing bases in Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey.
Apart from Konka, Gionee has also launched its first high-end offering in India, called the Gionee Dream D at INR 17,999. The device has a 4.65-inch HD (1280 x 720) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection and runs on Jelly Bean Android 4.1 and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM.
Jiayu, another entrant in the Indian market has recently rolled-out Jiayu G4, priced at just INR 9,000. This smartphone comes with 4.7-inch (1280 x 720) display also with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection and runs on the Google Android 4.1 OS platform. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM.
Zopo, a Chinese Android phone manufacturer, also has a complete range of smartphones for the Indian customers priced between INR 7,000 to INR 16,000. The company also offers Quad-core processor equipped Zopo Max 950 phablet in the country for INR 17,000.
Both the Jiayu G4 and ZOPO Max 950 are powered by Mediatek's quad-core MT6589 smartphone platfor, which has already been used by Micromax for its Canvas HD A 116 phablet/smartphone. Karbonn and Spice have also adopted the same quad-core chipset for their phablet offerings. (See The Phablet Battle Gets Intense.)
Lastly there is Xiaomi, which launched the Xiaomi MI-2 at INR 17,000 in the Indian market. Xiomi is the only company among its counterparts, which used Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor. The Xiaomi MI-2 has a 4.3-inch (1280 x 720) IPS capacitive touch screen display and runs on a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, with Jelly Bean Android 4.1 OS.
Aside these small Chinese entrants, Lenovo Group Ltd. (Hong Kong: 992) will also expand its smartphone line-up tin India in 2013. Presently, Lenovo offers five Android devices priced between INR 6,500 ($122) and INR 28,500 ($535).(See Lenovo To Go Bullish In Indian Smartphone Market.)
Evidently, MediaTek's low-cost chipsets—MT6589 and MT6577—have been allowing these Chinese companies to foray into the Indian market with competitive offerings in the affordable segment for smartphones. While the entry of these vendors is relatively recent, it is most likely that existing domestic players will face aggressive competition from these Chinese companies in Tier2 and Tier 3 cities, where smartphone penetration is very low.
The price sensitive Indian market has observed 3G tariffs cut lately, which is helping 3G services to penetrate deeply. With the drop in 3G tariffs is likely to lead to a burst in demand of these affordable high-end smartphones in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
