Huawei is not just about low-priced products: Victor Shan

Inteview with Huawei's President of India devices business department

Chinese telecommunications equipment and services company Huawei Technologies is quite sure that it will achieve its targeted sale of 100,000 smartphone units in India in 2013. Reason: it has already achieved 80 per cent of the target. Plus, it is confident the newly-launched smartphone model, Ascend P6, will give its sales a new momentum in the domestic market. Huawei has priced the P6, which it calls the world’s slimmest phone, at Rs 29,999. Victor Shan, the Shenzhen-headquartered company’s president of India devices business department, spoke to Itika Sharma Punit about the firm’s plan to double its sales in India next year. Excerpts:

What is the reason for launching Ascend P6 in India?

We have launched the Ascend P6 in China, the US, Europe and Japan, and have received a very good response. We have shipped more than three million units of Ascend P6 globally, and we have orders for another two million units. India as a market for smartphones is growing very fast. We already have an entry-level range of phone. But now, we want to let people know that Huawei is not just about low-priced products; it is also a company that can bring better quality products that use better technology.

 

India is a price-sensitive market. Do you think the Ascend P6 will help you grow here, given its premium pricing?

As per our understanding, Apple’s sales in India increased sharply this year, and our product is still at a lower price point than an Apple phone. As the Indian economy is growing, people are getting richer, which is leading to a growth in the premium products segment. So far, a majority of our sales for P6 have been in China and we think India has an even better potential than China.
 
How do you plan to increase your market share for smartphones in India?

So far, our presence in India is mostly through set top boxes and data cards, but we hope our smartphone sales will also pick up pace with the launch of the new model. Also, as of now, our smartphone sale in India is more through partnerships with telecom service providers. But we think we should go to the open market directly with our products. So next year, we hope to increase our presence in the open market. We can continue to sell set top boxes and data cards through service providers, but our approach is to increase open market sales for the smartphones.

 
What is your targeted smartphone sale in India?

For 2013, our target is 100,000 units, of which we have already achieved 80 per cent. We are hopeful with the launch of Ascend P6, we will achieve our target for this year. For the next year, we hope to sell 200,000 units, of which we expect 15 per cent will come from Ascend P6. So we hope to sell 30,000 units of Ascend P6 in India during 2014.
 
How do you plan to compete with other established players that have larger market share in India?

We have a local sales team in India and we are selling a series of products here already. Unlike some Chinese manufacturers who don’t offer good quality products and have poor after sales services, we have brought to India a smartphone that uses best technology. So we believe the Ascent P6 will be our flagship product in that sense, and it will help us build a good branding. We want to let the Indian people know that Huawei is not just about low-cost products; we offer good quality, high-technology and premium products.

 
What is your outlook for the Indian smartphone market?

India is a huge market for smartphones. We have been in Indian market for more than 12 years, and we see a huge potential for smartphones here. This year, I think, Indians will buy more than 30 million smartphone units, which I am sure will cross 40 million next year.