PhiComm is the latest Chinese smartphone maker that is planning to enter India to tap the growing smartphone market. The Shanghai based company is eyeing to enter India by launching its brand of devices by the middle of June, as per a latest Economic Times report.
The news comes at a time when another Chinese handset maker CoolPad announced that it will hit Indian markets with the launch of its affordable Dazen brand of devices. PhiComm also plans to manufacture mobile phones in India in three to four years’ time. The report said that the company will also set up a local ecosystem, including a research and development unit and a local data centre. The Indian R&D centre is expected to be set up within this year.
“The Indian market is very important and it will be the third country where we will establish a local organisation where we will hire about 20 local staff,”
Jeffrey Fan, president of global sales at PhiComm told ET.
He added that the company will invest a lot in market and brand set up. PhiComm has set up a marketing budget for 100 million RMB (Rs 1,026 crore) for this year of which a significant part will be invested in the Indian market. The company now wants to market its own devices which may be priced between $100 and $200 (Rs 6,300 to Rs 12,700), added the report. PhiComm will launch the first set of devices by mid-June through the online channel, said the report. The company is holding discussions to choose an appropriate partner, and will follow it up with offline sales across the country.