Vietnamese handset brand Mobiistar plans to hire 300 employees in UP

Vietnamese handset brand Mobiistar plans expansion in Uttar Pradesh and may hire about 330 employees to fuel its offline retail roadmap in the state.

The company, which had made its India foray in May 2018 with an exclusive e-commerce tie-up with Flipkart, is increasing its offline retail presence with a focus on the sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone category.

“UP is an important market and we are looking at a network of 80 distributors and 8,000 retailers in the state,” Mobiistar co-founder and CEO Carl Ngo said in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The company targets to figure among the top 5 smartphone brands in the country in the affordable segment by year-end, he informed. So far, Mobiistar has launched its products in Kochi, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Lucknow regions.

Ngo, whose company started with an online focus, has decided to tap the large offline smartphone market in India, especially in tier II and III towns.

“India is the place to be for any mobile phone brand to grow and scale up,” he said, adding the decision to make a foray into the offline space indicated the company’s commitment to the Indian market and its growth potential.

Ngo said almost 50 per cent of the Indian smartphone market was the sub-Rs 10,000 category and growing. Across India, Mobiistar is targeting a total network of 600 distributors and 1,000 service centres, of which 95 distributors would be based in UP alone, he said.

Since the domestic smartphone space is already cluttered with multiple cellphone brands across categories, Mobiistar is showcasing its USPs of premium selfie camera, face unlock, full view display and design to standout in the market.

The domestic handset market is currently dominated by Chinese mobile brands such as Xiaomi, Vivo, One+ and Oppo, alongside Samsung and Apple.

Meanwhile, Ngo also unveiled the latest range of five smartphones of the company priced between Rs 4,340 and Rs 10,500. He said the company sourced handsets from its local partner with a plant in Haryana, which assembles cellphone components imported from China.

Mobiistar is among the leading handset brands in Vietnam. Apart from India, the company has presence in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and in near future it plans to foray into other Asian countries as well.