Delhi-based mobile handset maker Intex Technologies is planning to invest Rs500 crore in setting up a smartphone manufacturing plant in the country. The company is in talks with three State Governments - Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand - to finalise the location for the plant. The idea is to manufacture smartphones in the new plant.
The company's Director (Marketing) Keshav Bansal told The Pioneer in an e-mail interview that in the current fiscal, Intex saw a phenomenal 100 per cent growth overall, while the growth was 300 per cent in the mobile vertical. "Intex plans to be among the top 3 players in the smartphone category and aims to capture 7 per cent to 8 per cent market share," Bansal said. "In the Smartphone segment, Intex has already captured 5 per cent market share, while in the feature phone segment, our market share is 8 per cent. We are selling around 15 lakh phone per month out of which 10 lakh are feature phones and 5 lakh smartphones. This makes it quite evident that we do not fear the prevailing competition," Bansal quipped. He further added that Intex has aggressive marketing plans for the coming fiscal (FY16) to enhance the brand visibility which will definitely help it to increase market share.
"We have established our presence in North and West India and are confident of retaining these regions as one of the strongest markets for Intex. However, this year we are aggressively focussing on South India. The region currently contributes 12 per cent in the overall revenue generated from this vertical which reflects the huge potential of the market that can be explored," he informed, adding that "we are targetting a contribution of 20 per cent from the South next year". In FY14, Intex sold around 11.5 million devices, and is aiming to increase the number to 20 million in FY16. Intex has generated more than Rs2,000 crore as turnover last year, and is confident of achieving a turnover of Rs 4,000 crore in this fiscal. In fact in FY16, the company is on track to achieve Rs6,000 crore turn over, Bansal claimed.
On setting up a new plant, he said, "we already have three manufacturing plants in Jammu and Himachal Pradesh for feature phones and other computer peripherals. The idea (behind setting up a new plant) is to manufacture smartphones in it." The company, he added, "is present in over 70 countries. We export directly to these countries from our factories abroad. Currently we are exporting mobile phones to 15 countries, including Russia, West Asia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri lanka."
When asked about how entry of other smartphone brands like Xiaomi has affected its market share, Bansal said, "the main challenge today is the rapidly changing needs of mobile users across the country and I am happy to share that we are seeing great traction towards our devices and we are overwhelmed by the response to our innovations. We continue to invest heavily in Research and Development (R&D) as well as marketing. Around 160 crore is being spent this fiscal on marketing with Rs100 crore exclusively on mobile brand promotion."
On what makes Intex different from other brands, Bansal said, "Intex thrives on its ability to constantly innovate and challenge market dynamics. In the face of increasing consumer demand in India and the company's strong emphasis on innovation, the brand has set a benchmark with not one but many products. Right from the most economical Firefox smartphone to the finest IT accessories. We offer quality products at best prices in the industry."