HTC revamps handset portfolio, aims 10-12% smartphone market share

NEW DELHI: Taiwan’s HTC is targeting a double digit smartphone volume share in India on the back of the revamped handset portfolio, which includes 4G VoLTE handsets, along with strong offline focus and higher marketing spending.
The handset maker Thursday launched seven new 4G smartphones, including the flagship HTC 10 and a new Desire handset line-up, which already makes up 80% of the overall sales in India. The company now has 15 smartphones in its portfolio, starting from Rs 8,000 to Rs 52,990, 12 of which support 4G technology.

The demand for LTE smartphones has been rising due to wider 4G coverage by Indian telecom operators. In the first quarter, two out of three smartphones shipped were LTE capable, according to Counterpoint research.

“We are revamping our entire portfolio with all new 4G-enabled devices, most are VoLTE compatible as well,” Faisal Siddiqui, President of HTC, South Asia, told ET.

Siddiqui admitted that the company lost some ground in the last 12 months due to lack of 4G devices in its portfolio, while the market moved to 4G pretty fast.

Despite having critically appreciated handsets, HTC has never had a notable presence in the Indian market - the world’s fastest growing – never having made it to the top 5 by volume or value, with critics pointing to a historically limited and pricey portfolio.

The company, as per its internal findings, claims around 4% volume share in the smartphone market, which it wants to increase to 10-12% in near future. Korea’s Samsung currently leads the world’s third largest market, both by volume and value. HTC claims a higher value market share of more than 7%.

“Our value share is higher, given our ASP (average selling price) is higher at Rs 15,000-Rs 16,000. We look at how many devices we activate, and based on different reports from market agency, we just extrapolate our market share accordingly,” Siddiqui said.

He added that 90% of HTC’s sales in India come from the offline channel. “Our phones are slightly expensive, and consumers want to touch and feel our products before they buy. So we invest in developing the offline channel,” Siddiqui said.

HTC, which is present in more than 500 cities now, currently sells its handsets through more than 14,000 outlets across the country, and plans to further add 8,000 more outlets by this fiscal year end.

The company is also planning to double the number of exclusive services centers from the current 300 in India. It recently roped in HCL as the third partner for the exclusive service centers.

HTC, which last year set up an assembling unit in partnership with Global Devices Network, said that its entire desire portfolio is being made in India. Siddiqui said that the planned bigger facility by Wistron, Taiwan’s second largest contract manufacturer, is expected to start by next quarter, and will manufacture all the smartphones.