Motorola aims to clock profit, grow 'faster than industry' in India

Smartphone maker Motorola is looking to clock a "profitable growth" and grow "faster than the industry" in India on both quarterly and yearly basis, with devices in the price range of Rs 9,000 to Rs 20,000 a unit driving the momentum, a top company official has said.

The company registered growth in the April-June quarter over the previous three-month period in India even though the overall shipment of smartphones declined, Motorola Mobility Managing Director and Country Head for Lenovo Mobile Business Group Prashanth Mani said.

"The Indian market declined while we grew quarter-on-quarter. We had premium to market. I would see the market is growing because there are new products. As long as the industry sees innovation, constant changes in terms of product being offered has a value, you will continue to see growth in the smartphone industry," Mani told PTI.

"We will grow faster than the industry. We want to have profitable growth and grow faster than the market both on quarter on quarter and year on year basis," he added.

According to Counterpoint Research, India's smartphone shipments declined by about 42 per cent on quarter-on-quarter basis to just over 18 million in the April-June quarter from 31 million units in January-March due to nationwide lockdown imposed to check coronavirus spread.

Mani said the company launched premium smartphone Motorola Razr 2, priced at around Rs 1.24 lakh a unit, in the April-June quarter which led to increase in purchase intent and consideration score for the brand.

Motorola Razr2 is a 5G phone. Mani said consumers are paying a premium to buy 5G devices without the 5G service being available in India.

He said the prices of 5G smartphones are expected to fall below Rs 20,000 a unit in the next 9-12 months.

Talking about Motorola's manufacturing activity in India, Mani said 99 per cent of mobile phones that the company sells in India are made locally by contract manufacturer Flextronics at Sriperumbudur.

He, however, expressed disappointment over the government's move to levy 10 per cent duty on import of display for smartphones from October 1.

"None of us were ready for the display owing to Covid. It required display manufacturers to be audited. There samples had to be received. Our engineers had to fly down. This period was the worst period and nothing could be done. I don't think we will be ready for that for the next sixmonths to a year. Nobody in the industry is ready for that," Mani said.

He said the company will pass on the tax burden to consumers wherever it sees an opportunity.

"This will be passed on to consumers where we get opportunity. We have all represented and told the government but as of now there has been no change in that policy," Mani said.