Asus plans to double smartphone market share this year

Planning to double its 2.5% market share in the smartphone space in India, Asus will be strengthening its premium range of phones in India this month onwards.

This move will not just pull up its average monthly sales of 2,00,000 units but will also result in atleast 20% higher price realisation from average sales.

While the laptop to smartphone maker is in the Rs 6,000-15,000 price bracket, most of its sales take place in the Rs 10,000-15,000 range.

"The average price of the smartphones sold in India is around Rs 11,000 which we have targeted to take up by 20% this year," Peter Chang, regional head of South Asia and country manager of India at Asus said.

However, Taiwan-based Asus, which has a manufacturing contract with Foxconn in India will not ramp up domestic production immediately to meet its projected monthly sales of 4,00,000 smartphones, implying the anticipated supply gap of 3,00,000 units to be met by imports.

Besides, it is also expecting an increase of 50% in its monthly laptop sales with the average price shooting up by 5-10% amid tepid market conditions in the computer hardware industry.

Currently, it sells around 20,000 laptops a month priced between Rs 15,000-2,00,000, with average price realisation of Rs 34,000 with a market share of 10%.

The company's recent foray into the gaming PC segment will also be helping the company reach its targeted sales and pull up its average price.

"Gaming is of strategic importance to us as it showcases our ability to innovate. Though it is not a revenue spinner, it is a segment in India which is growing 30% annually," he said.

The Taiwanese company has a 30% market share in the Indian gaming segment, which comprises of 2,000-3,000 units sold each month with an average price of above Rs 1,00,000.

However, the Indian gaming industry contributes a meagre 1% to the global industry.

Asus has targeted to open five exclusive gaming zones (shops) this year and will be extending its high-end gaming laptops to over 200 stores. Currently, the company has 120 exclusive stores pan India and is present across 3,000 outlets.