Gionee to spend Rs 400 crore on marketing

Chinese company plans to launched four new smartphones by October, they have also signed actress Alia Bhatt as its brand ambassador

Handset maker Gionee will spend around Rs 400 crore on marketing and branding activities over the next few months to capitalise on the festive season demand.

The Chinese company, which plans to launch four new smartphones by mid-October, also aims to expand its market share in India to seven to 10 per cent by next March.

"We had earmarked a budget of Rs 600 crore this year and we have utilised one-third of it till now. About Rs 200 crore will be pumped in the festive season and the remaining amount will be used in the latter part of the fiscal towards various marketing and branding efforts," Gionee India MD and CEO Arvind Vohra told PTI.

He added that the company will also launch 4 smartphones, priced between Rs 9,999 and Rs 24,999 by mid-October.

Gionee India has also signed up Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt as its brand ambassador.

"We are in discussions for signing up another brand ambassador but that is yet to be finalised," he said.

The company on Monday, launched its S6s, priced at Rs 17,999.

The 5.5-inch handset features 1.3 Ghz octacore processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory (expandable up to 128GB), 13MP rear and 8MP front camera and 3,150 mAh battery.

Asked about sales, he said Gionee India has now crossed half million units sales per month.

"All supply constraints have been sorted. About 60 per cent of our devices are now being manufactured here. We are expecting a robust growth this year in terms of revenues," he said.

Vohra added that Gionee India aims to expand its market share from around five per cent to seven to 10 per cent by March next year.

In India, Gionee has partnerships with Foxconn and Dixon to assemble its smartphones.

He said the company plans to set up its own manufacturing unit in the next few years to enable 100 per cent local manufacturing.