Comio, a smartphone brand of Topwise Communications is the latest brand from China to foray into the Indian mobile phone market. With the Indian youth market as its primary focus, it has introduced two new handsets—Comio S1 Lite and C2 Lite. “These two devices have been designed according to the Indian youth’s feedback,” says Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, CEO & director, Comio India. “We understand the youth of India and firmly believe that they have the power and might to guide consumer preferences,” he tells Sudhir Chowdhary in an interaction. Excerpts:
How is Comio performing in India? What is your go-to-market strategy for the India market?
India is a growing market with huge potential. We launched our operations in September 2017, we are quite close to our target what we had planned. So far we have already sold more than 4 lakh devices in India. I can proudly say that everyday we are adding 3000 new customers. Currently we have launched our operations in North and West India and our products are available in 900 cities. Going forward, we are launching our operations in East and South India. By the end of next quarter, we will have pan-India presence.
We have a major focus towards tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Our distribution network is quite well spread across India, but yes the big focus is towards the tier 2 and tier 3 cities. At any point of time, our idea is to have a basket of 5 to 6 products available in the market – starting from Rs 5,000 to maximum Rs 10,000. We are very clear in terms of having non competing products in the market. So moving forward, we will continue to have this strategy.
Talk to us about some key market trends in the mobile space and how Comio is aligned with them to address the requirements of the industry?
One big trend here is the consumer’s need for affordable devices. We are following this trend very closely and offering best value to our customers. So we have our products with big and powerful battery. Then, we also have a big focus towards camera; we have added new and innovative features around camera. Display is another area where we have a big focus. So our next set of devices will be focused around display. We call it edge-to-edge display and bigger screen.
All the brands talk about quality and experience, what is the key differentiator to make a mark?
We are offering a unique experience in terms of after-sales service. In addition to this, we are offering great value adds with our devices – such as 100 days extra warranty, we also have an upgrade offer; even after using our phone for year, a customer can give back our product and we will give back 40% of the device value. We are also giving screen breakage offer to our customers. We have a lot of these additional benefits attached to our devices.
How are you holding up against some of the more established Chinese handset makers?
Our plan is very simple—to be very focused and be close to our customers, understand their specific requirements and fulfill it. We have our priorities set for our customers, distributors as well as dealers. Deep level distribution is another strength that we have. We are already available at more than 20,000 counters and people are happy to sell our products.
How important is India market for you, how is it different from other markets that you are present in?
In other markets we are present as ODM and not as a brand. We have launched Comio only in the Indian market. So, India is an extremely important market for us as a brand.
