Infinix to add fitness bands to India portfolio by year-end

Smartphone maker Infinix Monday said it is looking at expanding its product portfolio in India with the addition of fitness bands by the end of next month.

The company, which launched its Note 5 Stylus Monday, also said it has seen strong sales during festive season in October and November.

"Our focus is on bringing in a differentiated portfolio. With our phones too, we wanted to move beyond just camera and battery size...We are looking at bringing in fitness bands by the end of December," Infinix India CEO Anish Kapoor told PTI.

According to research firm IDC, the wearables market in India witnessed 66 per cent year-on-year growth to one million units in the June 2018 quarter. Xiaomi led the segment with 45.8 per cent share, followed by GOQii (18.8 per cent), Titan (7.4 per cent), Fitbit (3.8 per cent) and Lenovo (3 per cent).

Infinix's parent, Transsion operates three brands in India -- itel, Tecno and Infinix. Infinix is a strong player in markets like Egypt, Morocco, Indonesia and other parts of Africa and Middle East.

"India is among our top five markets and we are keen to further consolidate our presence in the Indian market," he said.

On the impact of rupee depreciation against US dollar, Kapoor said the rupee has depreciated by about 15 per cent. While making handsets in India has helped offset some of the impact, payments for raw material is done in dollars and that in turn had an effect on the final pricing of the devices, he explained.

"It is a competitive market and therefore, we haven't increased prices of our existing portfolio. The new launches, however, factor in the impact," he added.

Infinix's latest smartphone - Note 5 Stylus priced at Rs 15,999 - will compete with Samsung's flagship Note 9 that was launched in August for Rs 67,900 onwards.

Talking about the device, Kapoor said the company spent close to a year in developing the product. He said users can write in English and Hindi (using the stylus - XPen) and that will be converted to text with almost 99 per cent accuracy.

He added that the software features allow users to create memos, and do mathematical calculations quickly using the stylus.

The Android One-powered smartphone features a 5.93-inch display, 16MP rear and front camera, and 4,000 mAh battery.

Infinix entered the Indian market last year and has eight variants in its smartphone portfolio and sells only through the online platform.