Obi Mobiles: Another smartphone brand all set to enter India

 Ajay Sharma,
CEO,
Obi Mobiles

Former Apple CEO John Sculley has recently visited India with an eye on the lower-end market and founded brand-Obi Mobiles. Headquartered in Gurgaon. Obi Mobiles is funded by an investment outfit based out of Singapore called Inflexionpoint. Obi Mobiles’ first smartphones will start hitting Indian shelves by June-end. The company is planning on initially selling smartphones in the Rs.5,000–Rs.8,000 range and expects to sell a million units and will be profitable in five months. After establishing its foundation in India, the company also has plans to spread its handset business to growing markets in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America.

Ajay Sharma, CEO, Obi Mobiles, in an exclusive interaction with VARINDIA, shared the company’s offerings, distribution network and expansion plans. Edited excerpt:

It is heard that Obi Mobiles is planning to launch its devices exclusively in India? If yes, what are the motivating factors?

The primary motivating factors are the high growth witnessed in the sector during the last couple of years – the visible shift from feature phones to smartphones and the potential for growth in the smartphone segment, given that the smartphone penetration is just 10 per cent. If we look back, the smartphone market in India has grown from 16 million smartphones which were sold in 2012 to 44 million smartphones in 2013, as per the IDC data. Obi Mobiles is also uniquely positioned to benefit from the existing InflexionPoint operations which include technology linkages and engineering capabilities of its Singapore-headquartered subsidiary Dragon Technology in China and the countrywide distribution network of Iris Computers, India.

How many product offerings Obi Mobiles is planning to bring in India? 

Obi Mobiles plans to offer five to six devices by the end of June 2014, priced between Rs.5,000 and Rs.15,000, and most of the devices will be under Rs.10,000 price point. We aim to build a strong portfolio of devices, giving users the options to choose across price points and form- factors. These will be Android-based smartphones and are specially built, keeping in mind the large amount of users in India who wish to shift from the basic feature phones to smartphones.

What is your product distribution strategy for India?

We will be utilizing the pre-existing expertise of Iris Computers, part of InflexionPoint operations in India. Iris Computers from Delhi will be handling the warehousing and logistics and we have identified individual distributors for all the key cities in India, who will be stocking products from Iris. From the distributors, the product will go to the dealers followed by the customers. Using this short gear channel, we will be able to provide aggressive pricing of the products and allow good margins to the distribution channel partners.

Tell us something about the business model that Obi will be based on – “Frugal Expense model”.

Frugal Expense Model entails doing business with low overheads, maximizing the returns on investment and optimizing the distribution and team efforts.

Who are you building these devices for?

Smartphones by Obi Mobiles will be valuable devices for two sets of people – first, those who wish to switch from feature phone to smartphone, and, second, the youth of India falling between 16 and 35 years of age. They are open to adapt to newer technology and form-factors that Obi Mobiles will be offering through its smartphones. The mission of Obi Mobiles is to expand the horizons of technology adoption and provide best-in-class smart devices as the next 500 million phone users will connect to internet using smartphones.

What is your go-to-market strategy for India?

Obi Mobiles will be adopting a 360-degree marketing approach to create awareness about the devices among the right set of people, primarily the youth between 16 and 35 years. We have identified our target markets and we will be primarily looking at TV, Print, Digital and OOH to promote and market our products.
 

satinder@varindia.com