Aquatic Thrusts

The Delhi-based company delivered all the right strokes — be it having an IPL franchise for branding, or building new plant capacities for manufacturing

From its initial days as an Ethernet cards maker to a present-day consumer electronics brand, the company has followed an agile strategy of phasing out products that didn’t work to focus on devices that fetched explosive growth. During its nearly two decades of existence, it briefly dabbled in audio and video cassettes before moving onto accessories and IT peripherals to speakers, home theatres and finally to cell phones in 2007. In mobile manufacturing, the company seemed to have found its holy grail, which re-defined its very standing over a period of time.

Last year, the company, which has Aqua as its flagship brand, emerged as one of the fastest growing mobile phone makers in India and features among the top three players in the market. Much of the growth for the company has come during the past three years, when it is estimated to have raked-in a CAGR of over 120 percent.

However, there is a lot of catching up that Intex still needs to do. While it managed to achieve a unit shipment share of over 10 percent during the last fiscal, its revenue market share still remains in single digits. The company will need to focus on strengthening its brand in the mid- to high-end product segments so as to realize a higher average selling price (ASV) going forward. Currently, a significantly high share of its revenues is said to come from the sub-Rs 7,000 price-point segments. It currently also has a large array of more than 140 models.

Intex operates three manufacturing facilities one each in Jammu, Baddi and Noida, which together produce approximately two million handsets a month. In CY 2014, according to industry estimates, the company sold around 20 million handsets and had set itself a target of 30 million for CY 2015, but fell short despite rolling out two to three new smartphones every month. Within smartphones, Intex was aiming to double its sales to 15 million devices in CY 2015 from seven million a year before. Its Noida unit is aimed at achieving a total installed capacity of 35 million units and is reflective of Intex’s appetite for growth.

The company also made headlines in December by winning the bid to own the Rajkot franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). This was an obvious move to bolster its brand visibility and mindshare for its fast-growing mobiles business.

Intex had earlier focused on building its presence in north India, followed by the west and east regions. In 2014, it chalked out an aggressive pan-India expansion plan including setting up of company-owned outlets, exclusive brand stores and expanding the franchisee network. The next phase saw the company roping in local celebrities as brand ambassadors to establish consumer connect. By roping in Bollywood sensation Farhan Akhtar, Tamil heartthrob Suriya and Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu, Intex ensured that it built a brand connect at a country level as well as in key regions.

Its distribution strategy has also worked well. While many other brands were increasing focus on online models, the company built its hub-and-spoke channel network. Currently, Intex brands retail across 35,000 stores and going further, the company plans to more than double that.

Much of the growth for Intex Technologies has come during the past three years, when it is estimated to have raked-in a CAGR of over 120 percent.