HTC Eyes 8 Pct Share of India's Budget Smartphone Segment

NEW DELHI: Mobile phone maker HTC is ramping up its presence in the affordable category (8,000-15,000) in the country with the introduction of new devices, including 4G-enabled, to gain share in the heavily contested smartphone market in India.

The company, which faces stiff competition from Indian and Chinese handset makers like Micromax, Lava and Xiaomi, is confident of garnering 7.5-8 pct share of the affordable smartphone category in next six months.

"We will broaden our price play horizons at both ends. India is an important market for us. If HTC has to do good globally, India numbers have to be positive," HTC president (Global Sales) Chia-Lin Chang said.

He added that going ahead; all new products will be 4G-compatible.

Speaking at the launch of its mid-range One A9 and budget Desire 828 smartphones, Chang said the company will look at launching devices priced below 10, 000.

"We are looking to start from about 8, 000. We are hoping to gain 7.5-8 pct share in this category (8, 000-Rs 15,000) in the next six months," he said.

Currently, HTC has less than 5 pct share in the mid-range smartphone segment as it does not have devices in the sub-10, 000 categories.

It claims to have about 4 pct share in the overall smartphone category.

"In India, 65 pct of smartphones sold are below the 10, 000 price point. Till now, we didn't participate in that market... If we can capture 2 pct of the budget phones sold in India, we will have a huge growth momentum in India taking our global revenues higher," Chang said.

India is one of the world's fastest growing smartphone markets.

According to research firm IDC, smartphone shipments in India jumped 21.4 pct in the July-September 2015 quarter to 28.3 million units, buoyed by a three-fold jump in demand for 4G-enabled devices.

Talking about the devices launches, Chang said the prices will be announced closer to the availability, which is expected to be in the next two weeks.

The HTC Desire 828 will feature 5.5-inch display, 1.5GHz octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB memory, 2,800mAh battery and 13MP camera.

The A9 features 5-inch display, 3GB RAM, 32GB memory, 2,150mAh battery and 13MP camera.

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