MARKET SHARE

At a recent press event LG Electronics India head Kim KiWan in a candid confession said that their position in the Indian smartphone market has been shamefully poor. He also said that getting the sales and marketing strategy in India right is important to gain market share. It is not just LG that has been sliding down the Indian smartphone lists, Japanese electronics major Sony has too. Surprisingly both firms have managed to win the brand wars when it comes to home appliances (think television, refrigerators and air-conditioners), but not with smartphones.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), both LG and Sony do not figure in the top five. Surprising that, given the booming segment is drawing new brands in droves and both Sony and LG are old hands in the Indian market. While it refused to comment on the companies’ market shares, IDC added that LG shipments have more than doubled year-on-year, but Sony’s shipments to India dipped over 90 per cent in the second quarter of 2016.

Sony has said at an investor meet held in Tokyo in June that it will defocus on India in the handsets market, while LG is taking a fresh look at its marketing and branding strategies to come up with an India plan. An email sent to Sony remained unanswered, but analysts point out that the company is moving away from the entry level smartphone category, which used to be its staple business in India. Adapting to consumer tastes LG India Managing Director Ki-Wan told Business Standard that “To succeed in India you need to have Indiaspecific products. If we do marketing and sales properly, we will be able to gain significantly,” he said.

LG is moving towards that end. It has started manufacturing smartphones from India. It also launched two smartphones LG K7 and K10 LTE priced at ~9,500 and 13,500 respectively, thereby positioning itself in the mid-ranges in terms of price. “We have strengthened our product portfolio with a mix of global as well as Indian insight-based products. Our decision to make smartphones in India will only help us offer products across price points,” said a Brand

Samsung Micromax Intex Lenovo LYF

Q1 2016

27.03% 15.82% 11.43% 8.86% 8.26%

company spokesperson in an email response. LG has also announced the launch of its flagship phone V20 for the Indian markets.

The strategy is to provide an LG phone at multiple price points. Among other smartphone brands attempting to do the same is Asus which wants to have a phone at every price point in the market. “Our primary focus is on strengthening the portfolio by launching a range of India specific products,” said the LG spokesperson.

LG and Asus seem to be picking up a few lessons from Chinese handset makers whose brands have flooded the