ASUS to focus on high-end phones
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Oct 02, 2017, 01.07 AM IST
ASUSTek Computers, the Taiwanese company that sells handsets under the ASUS brand, is changing its strategy for the highly competitive smartphone market in India by narrowing its focus on Rs 10,000-30,000 price category, and exiting the sub-Rs 10,000 space to better compete with aggressive Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
“We do see that the competition in the market is actually very tough with the aggressive approach by Chinese competitors in the last few months. They are much bigger.
If we don’t focus, then we lose to them,” Peter Chang, regional director, South Asia and country manager India at ASUS, told ET.
“We have decided to change our strategy and be more focused… we will have better chance to fight with the competitors,” he added.
ASUS isn’t looking at major volume growth this year, but it will look at increasing its share in the Rs 10,000 and above category with the launch of its new ZenFone 4 Selfie Series.
“Our selfie range is the main segment in terms of pricing we want to focus. In the past, we had some products that were priced below Rs 9,000. Now, we are largely focusing on Rs 10,000-30,000 price category,” Chang said.
The company, which has 10 running models in India, will launch a fewer number of models, in line with its new strategy.
ASUS is currently selling 1.5 lakh units per month on an average, which it expects to sustain by the end of this year. Smartphone contributes 60% revenue towards the overall turnover, while rest comes from the PC business, which the executive said is growing.
Samsung continues to hold the top spot among smartphones here, with other four spots in the top five taken by Chinese players — Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Lenovo.
China-based vendors, with their massive ongoing marketing, spend and channel expansion, accounted for 54% share of the June-ended quarter’s shipment.
ASUS is also looking to collaborate with mobile internet startups and app developers to integrate third-party services with its operating platform and app store to deepen its presence in the country.
“Previous few months, there were a few companies that we have discussed with the headquarters around localisation and optimisation. This is currently at the discussion level,” Chang said.
“We do see that the competition in the market is actually very tough with the aggressive approach by Chinese competitors in the last few months. They are much bigger.
If we don’t focus, then we lose to them,” Peter Chang, regional director, South Asia and country manager India at ASUS, told ET.
“We have decided to change our strategy and be more focused… we will have better chance to fight with the competitors,” he added.
ASUS isn’t looking at major volume growth this year, but it will look at increasing its share in the Rs 10,000 and above category with the launch of its new ZenFone 4 Selfie Series.
“Our selfie range is the main segment in terms of pricing we want to focus. In the past, we had some products that were priced below Rs 9,000. Now, we are largely focusing on Rs 10,000-30,000 price category,” Chang said.
The company, which has 10 running models in India, will launch a fewer number of models, in line with its new strategy.
ASUS is currently selling 1.5 lakh units per month on an average, which it expects to sustain by the end of this year. Smartphone contributes 60% revenue towards the overall turnover, while rest comes from the PC business, which the executive said is growing.
Samsung continues to hold the top spot among smartphones here, with other four spots in the top five taken by Chinese players — Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Lenovo.
China-based vendors, with their massive ongoing marketing, spend and channel expansion, accounted for 54% share of the June-ended quarter’s shipment.
ASUS is also looking to collaborate with mobile internet startups and app developers to integrate third-party services with its operating platform and app store to deepen its presence in the country.
“Previous few months, there were a few companies that we have discussed with the headquarters around localisation and optimisation. This is currently at the discussion level,” Chang said.
