Vivo's mobile business surges on IPL craze

With an expanding offline distribution network, firm's market share is seen touching 3% by June-end from 1.4% in March

Chinese smartphone giant Vivo is set to double its sales in India. Sales have surged with the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, where it was a title sponsor. And, with an expanding offline distribution network, the market share is expected to touch three per cent by June-end from 1.4 per cent at March-end.

Vivo set up an assembly unit in India last December and allocated Rs 200 crore for promotion and advertisements in 2016. Its journey here began in December 2014 and Vivo had focused on developing an offline sales channel, unlike many peers such as Xiaomi and One Plus.

“Vivo has been expanding its offline reach since its entry. Now, with aggressive marketing, it has started to gain not only market share but also mind share of end-users, especially post the IPL season. This will give it a needed momentum ahead of the festive season,” says Tarun Pathak, senior telecom analyst, Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

The country's smartphone market is expected to touch 140 million units this year, a 40 per cent rise over last year. Established players such as Samsung, Micromax, Lenovo and Intex are expected to hold to their market share but new ones such as Vivo could eat those of smaller entities. About 160 smartphone brands operate in the domestic market and 550 new models are launched every year.

"A sports event like the IPL has wide reach among television audiences and consumers in India. Being the title sponsor, Vivo, naturally, got attention and came to the forefront very quickly. Doubling of sales is a translation of that effect,” says Harish Bijoor, brand expert and chief executive of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.  Cumulative viewership of the ninth edition of the league in 2016 touched 335 million, more than half of India’s pay television households.  

Mega-sports events like the IPL help new entrants in the consumer goods market gain considerable mind space, he says, even before customers actually get to know about their products and services.

Gaining market share in two to three quarters has been achieved by many vendors, such as Lenovo (including Moto) and Xiaomi. However, holding on to the gains is not easy, analysts say.

After gaining the third spot in the smartphone market in the December 2015 quarter, with 11.6 per cent, Lenovo’s share dropped to 8.2 per cent in January-March 2016, the fourth spot.

“IPL proved an extremely fruitful experience; being the title sponsor helped us gain huge brand recall in various parts of the country. As a young brand, it is imperative to create a bond with existing and potential customers; IPL provided us the required platform,” said Vivek Zhang, chief marketing officer, Vivo India.