Flipkart eyes 40% of India's phone market

Flipkart on Tuesday announced its exclusive partnership with Asus, and plans to grab 40% of Indian mobile market by 2020, along with new product launches under Billion mobile brand.

The Indian ecommerce giant, through its newly launched 'Mobiles 40by20' strategy, is aggressively increasing its market share by more exclusive partnership, expansion of private label Billion, and customer outreach programme.

Commenting on the development, Flipkart Vice President (Mobiles and Large Appliances) Ajay Yadav said that the company approximately sells one in four phones in India.

"We have achieved 60% growth in the mobile phone category, compared to an industry growth of 14%. With 'Mobiles 40by20', Flipkart will contribute significantly towards adding the next 100 million smartphone-users by 2020," he said.

The company on Tuesday announced its long-term strategic partnership with Taiwanese handset-maker Asus and plans to launch ZenFone Max Pro exclusively on April 23.

According to a statement issued by the company, Flipkart will be the primary sales channel for Asus' ZenFones. Besides co-creation of new products, both the companies will plan and execute marketing activities for ZenFones.

Commenting on the announcement, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said that the compny has driven the adoption of smartphones in India and grown the market through innovations and a deep sense of knowing what consumers want.

"With this partnership with Asus, we're multiplying those efforts by collaborating to leverage our individual strengths - data-driven research and insights, and technological prowess - to build smartphones truly customised for India," he said.

Billion Capture+, the first smartphone launched by Flipkart in November last year, is engineered by Hyderbad-based consumer electronics company Smartron. Flipkart's vision through this product was to address the many unique needs of India in connecting next new millions via internet.

When contacted by DH, a Smartron spokesperson said the company has got a mandate to design around five new mobile handsets for Flipkart. "We are in advanced stages to release these new designs as per Flipkart's specification," said the spokesperson.

Flipkart has already launched two phones in 2017 under Billion Capture+, with a starting price of Rs 10,999.