iVOOMi sees opportunity in India Market

In a chat with VARINDIA, Ashwin Bhandari, CEO, iVOOMi, India discusses about smartphone market in the country, strategy, target verticals, service support, new capabilities and much more  

What kind of technological advancements introduced by iVOOMi is the last 2 years?
iVOOMi is known for innovation and re-engineering. We have done many small innovations to bring value and technology benefits in form of better design, high end features to the consumers.

How do you find Indian smartphone market? 
Indian market is the fastest growing market. We see this market as a big opportunity for iVOOMi as there is lot of space available for product companies which can deliver and design value products. We are completely convinced with the market opportunity and looking forward to invest in the product development capabilities and build technology for the masses.

As you must be well aware of Indian consumer psyche by now, what are the most common features that they aspire to have in their phones? Any new product that iVOOMI will launch soon?
Indian consumer is the most intelligent and demanding consumer. Due to which it gives a new challenge as the product company to be innovative and growing always. We are focussed on working with the strategy of constantly keep innovating and develop newer technologies every day.

We have a disruptive product offering on our plate as an offer to the Indian consumer, we would be releasing 2 different value series for the market and deliver high end features and technology to the masses. We will start announcing the same in the months’ time from now.

In a competitive market like India where it is crowded with both international and national brands, how iVOOMi is strategising to face the challenges? What strategy for you adopting to tap on the feature phone market? 
We see a huge opportunity in the Indian market, because not many players in the market arrive in with a product background, whereas, at the same time we come from a product design background. We see the same to be our biggest strength and differentiation for us. We would keep building value and innovative offering for the market which will keep us ahead of time and competitive in the market.

What are the target verticals for iVOOMi? 
We have a wide range of product portfolio from different categories which we will be building for the tier 2 and 3 category consumers. Our aim is to bring great products that will change life for the tier 2 and 3 consumers.

How do you try to be at the cutting edge amidst hundreds of other home-grown Indian brands?
We see the market dynamics changing and future would be better for the products and Technology Company. We see technology driven business whereas before technology was supporting business to grow.

Further with Make in India, change in the taxation structure, the ground would be at similar level for the new and old players and we are working on delivering.

What is your strategy around support? How many service stations are there in India and how many of them are owned by iVOOMI?
We are building our own after sales network and would be building a complete structure to deliver service within 24hrs to every corner of country.

Do you have any plans to open manufacturing unit or R&D Center in India?
We plan to mobilise our RnD & design capabilities in the India. We just need to get the clarity on the policies from the government. Currently we plan to build a global capability by mid of 2019.

Why did you choose online as the mode to approach customers? Do you have any plans to sell offline? 
We would be taking the channels with a single approach of delivering value to our consumer in the most cost effective manner. Our most important agenda is to reach our target in a way that we ensure minimal leakage on the cost of sales. 

Tags: Ashwin Bhandari, CEO, iVOOMi, India Market