To be fastest-growing brand in PH, Vivo puts focus on camera, audio
MANILA-- Capitalizing on Filipinos’ fondness for music and selfies, a new player in the smartphone market is striving to become the fastestfrowing cellphone brand in the country.
Vivo wants to beat top mobile phone giants in the sales game, similar to what it managed to do in China, the largest smartphone market.
The announcement came from Vivo Philippines vice president Hazel Bascon during the grand launching of Vivo 5, its newest product that boasts of “perfect selfie” capabilities, with a 20-megapixel front camera, said to be the first in the world.
With the Philippines considered one of the selfie capitals in the world, the company is focusing on this phenomenon in moving forward, selling their smartphones at midrange prices.
Vivo previously iden- tified itself as the “Hi-Fi and smart” phone, but it recently altered its slogan to “camera and music,” which Bascon said are the two most important features considered by all smartphone buyers today.
Vivo was first founded in China in 2009 as a subbrand of BBK Electronics that first focused on providing high quality audio experience for users by utilizing Hi-Fi chips in its smartphones. It entered the Philippines in March this year and has since experienced a surge in smartphone sales.
“Our sales are growing tremendously since our launch last March, at an average of seven times growth quarter by quarter,” Bascon said. Vivo is also present in China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Based on IDC Worldwide’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Vivo shipped 14.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2016, placing it in the top five smartphone vendors worldwide, displacing Lenovo and Xiaomi from their global positions, together with new player Oppo.
In terms of growth rates, Vivo is the second fastest-growing smartphone brand, with a growth rate of 123.8 percent in terms of shipment volume. Giant brands Samsung and Apple registered declines by 0.6 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively, based on IDC’s first quarter report.
For its latest product V5, Bascon expressed con- fidence that the market will warmly respond to it.
The Vivo V5 sports an all-metal unibody shell back case that comes in champagne gold and rose gold colors with a 5.5-inch 1280×720 HD display, clad in 2.5D corning gorilla glass. It is also equipped with an octa-core processor with 4GB of RAM, fast-charging technology and 3,000mAh built-in battery, among its other features. The V5 is currently sold at P12,990.
Vivo Philippines has also revealed an upcoming device, the Vivo V5 Plus, that will feaure a similar form factor as the V5 smartphone at 5.5 inches, but will feature a 1920×1080 display and 20-megapixel dual front cameras. The price of the V5 Plus phone is yet to be announced.