Philips re-enters India mobile phone market

Consumer durables manufacturer Philips Wednesday re-entered the Indian mobile phone market after a gap of two years, launching four devices ranging from a basic feature phone to an android-based smart mobile phone priced between Rs.1,960 and Rs.20,650.

"We are entering into the market again with a whole range of feature and smart phones that we believe serves all the categories of clients. We will be launching two new phones by next month that will take our range to about Rs.35,000," S.S. Bassi, country manager India, Overseas Sales, Shenzhen Sangfei.

The company used to sell feature based phones in the country two-years ago, when it stopped the sales and left the market.The company said that it might go in for domestic manufacturing if it finds mass demand for its products, till then it will import its inventory."Manufacturing will come with mass demand. Till then we will backup our inventories through imports. The smart phone penetration is the market is still low of about 15 percent so we see a tremendous scope for growth in this segment," Bassi said.

The exclusive licence to market and sell the Philips Mobile is with China Electronics Corporation (CEC) since 2007, while manufacturing is done by CEC's subsidiary Shenzhen Sangfei Consumer Communications which is also responsible for introducing the company's mobile devices in India The company has roped in distribution partner Redington and plans to go in for standalone stores after it consolidates its distribution system.

"Having flagship stores is a part of our distribution plan but that will take sometime," Bassi added.The four phones launched Wednesday include W3500, W6610 and S308 which are touch screen-based smart phones, while E130 is a feature based mobile communication device.