Coolpad expects Rs 800-cr revenue from India in 5 yrs

Coolpad Communication, China’s largest dual handset maker and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed China Wireless Technologies Ltd, is expecting revenues of Rs 800 crore in five years from India. The company is also planning to launch dual-SIM smartphones in the sub-Rs 8,000 range and will invest Rs 400 crore over three to four years in the country.

“India is the first market outside China we are foraying into. Like China, India uses both CDMA and GSM technologies and is one of the growth markets for the telecom sector. Clearly, the country’s economy is rising, and apart from the subscriber additions, the advent of 3G would make this a preferred market,” Coolpad Communication’s Managing Director Sami Al-Lawati told Business Standard in an interview.

Coolpad’s India foray is the company’s first overseas venture. This is in line with China Wireless Technologies’ strategy to penetrate overseas markets and take a leadership stance in the global dual-mode market segment. The Chinese company has forayed into the Indian market through a tie-up with Reliance Communication’s (RCom) retail arm, Reliance Webstore. Coolpad’s agreement with Reliance Webstore will allow it to market handsets across 700 cities in India.

“We are targeting 15 per cent of the total marketshare in the country over the next couple of years,” he added.

According to Al-Lawati, the company will also invest around Rs 400 crore over the next three to four years in India. Most of this would be raised through internal accruals and debt. The company is also planning to set up an R&D facility in India by 2010.

Coolpad is also planning to launch dual-SIM smartphones in the sub-Rs 8,000 range over the next four months. At present, dual-SIM smartphones are priced at around Rs 15,000 here.

The company expects “disruptive” innovations in mobile space, rising consumer demand for mobile data, faster networks and fall in prices to drive telecom growth in the country.