We Aim To Continue Our Multi Brand Strategy with Very Strong Regional Marketing, Arijeet Talapatra, Transsion India

In an exclusive conversation with PCQuest, Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, Transsion India, talks about their different product lines.

What are the different product lines/brands across price range?

TRANSSION started its operations in April 2016 with Itel. The sub-brand, Itel offers feature phones and smartphones phones under INR 6K price bracket except for one or two models under INR 7k. The brand’s current portfolio consists of 12-13 Feature Phones, ranging from INR 800 to INR 1500 and 6-7 Smartphones ranging INR 3500- INR 6000. In the initial phase, we started from INR 2500 smartphones. However, due to the shift to 4G from 3G, we now have smartphones starting from INR 3500 ranging till INR 6000.

TECNO is a premium offline smartphone brand from TRANSSION India. Launched in 2017, the brands' current portfolio consists of 7 smartphones ranging from INR 6999- INR 13499.

Further, Infinix is an online brand that was launched with an exclusive partnership with Flipkart targeting a different set of online audience. The brand’s current portfolio consists of 6 smartphones, in the price range of INR 5999 to INR 19999.

What is your current position of Itel in India?

TRANSSION started its operations in April 2016 with Itel. It believes in democratising technology for the masses who are looking for accessible superior technology. Within the first year of operations, itel grabbeda 2nd position in the feature phone market in terms of volume.

Further, as per CMR Q4 2017, itel emerged as the second largest player in the overall mobile phone market in India by capturing more than 9 percent market share for the year 2017, registering an exponential growth of 217% year-on-year.

What is the reach of feature phones?

TRANSSION is into direct distribution with 3400 plus distributors and more than 1 lakh retailers. The feature phones are present across India specially in Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4, and Tier 5 cities. However, the feature phones are primarily targeted for Tier 3cities and below.

In how many cities is itel present?

Our core strength lies in the offline distribution. We have our sales team and service teams present across PAN India.

What is the GTM strategy for itel?

Our unique GTM strategy helped itel until now to stand out from the clutter of an offline ‘only’ brand. We follow the policy of “Right to progress” i.e. “Tarrakki ka Adhikaar”, thereby practicing the philosophy to offer value for money to the consumers.

For example: We started by offering our customer base with a feature phone at INR 800 that had a selfie camera. We also have a feature called “King Voice” that none of the competitors have. Kingvoice is an innovative text to speech application that helps the specially abled.

How many local languages does itel support?

itel currently support 6 input local languages. These languages are English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Punjabi and Gujarati. This comes as a default in all the feature phones. We have also started offering 2000 phone book memory in Feature phones which is a big differentiator in the segment.

Name the cities with maximum traction for itel

We started our launches from the North, both for  itel and TECNO. Henceforth, we are extremely strong in Northern regions. We are also strong in Maharashtra Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Are there any service centres for TRANSSION?

We have our own  service brand called ‘Carlcare’, for all our multi-brands. With the launch of this brand, we aim to provide the best after sales experience to our consumers.

There are 2 authorised Carlcare centres- one in Noida and another in Mumbai. Apart from these two, the company has more than 960 service touch points in India. Experience of every customer is managed by our own team.

How many offline partners are there?

We have 3400 plus channel partners and more than 1 lakh plus retailers across PAN India.

What are the main features/USPs of Itel smartphones?

The itel mobile phone portfolio was created to deliver a full mobility experience to the Indian customers by providing them access to premium quality products, which are localized and designed to meet their specific requirements at a budget friendly price. The features include full screen display, dual camera, fingerprint sensor, smart key, bike key, bokeh mode, face unlock, high density batteries ranging in  3000 to 4000 mAh. There are very few players who offers such key features in this price segment.

What are the main features/USPs of TECNO smartphones?

The main features of TECNO smartphones are AI Camera, notch screen display, Average battery capacity as 3750 mAh, Sleek and light handset, 151 promise- 100 day replacement warranty, 1 year screen replacement, Dual rear camera, Fingerprint sensor and AI Face unlock.

Any plans to switch to accessories market?

We already have an accessory brand called ‘oraimo’. It is a smart accessories brand and develops cool and creative smart-accessories for young people around the world, enabling them to explore more excitement. The brand is present in many cities, some of which are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu with product rangeof more than 200 SKU’s.

The brand has multiple categories- Bluetooth earphones, power bank, IOT watchs, wireless chargers and offers 365 days over the counter replacement warranty. In fact, oraimo is the No.1 in some markets such as Orissa, NESA, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala.

Is there any local manufacturing for all the brands?

We have a manufacturing unit in Sector-63 Noida for mobiles and approximately 15 assembly lines running. Apart from our own factory, we are working with around 4-5 third party OEMs and soon we might get into SMT line with ‘Make In India’program.

What are your Future Plans for the rest of the year?

We aim to continue with our multi brand strategy and regional marketing in 2019. We aim to remain at number 1/number 2 in the industry w.r.t smartphones under the 6K category.

Written By: Divya Bishi