US-based InFocus which forayed into the Indian market with its M2 smartphone in March this year, has a wide range of products scheduled for their India launch in 2016. While the company so far has been competing only in the smartphone space, it now has a clear roadmap for the next year to venture into other segments including laptops, TV and wearables.
IBNLive spoke to Sachin Thapar, InFocus India country head, to ascertain the company’s performance in the Indian market, their future strategies, and the product roadmap. Excerpts:
IBNLive: Being a new entrant, what is your strategy to find a decent space in the already heated smartphone market?
Sachin Thapar: First of all, I don’t agree it’s heated up; the market is growing at a phenomenal pace and therefore, there is a huge room for a new brand to enter. And especially for a brand like us because we are trying to offer consumers the world class quality at very affordable prices.
If you look at existing players in the market, once they offer a good product, the price is high. And if it’s a good brand, the price is even higher. And if you look at other players which offer products at competitive prices, the quality suffers in terms of touch responsiveness, display, and finish. So definitely, there is a room for somebody to come and offer quality products at competitive prices. So that is the space which we identified when we entered, and we think is still available to us. And the result, so far, has been good.
IBNLive: But there are already many companies including Xiaomi and Motorola that have been doing the same i.e., offering value for money products?
Sachin: I am not saying we are the only brand that aims to do so. But what we find is that there is a huge room for brands like InFocus to enter and make a niche for themselves. And there is a plethora of customers in the market who want to try out new brands which offer better value for money.
So basically, if you look at the market scenario a couple of years ago, there was a dearth of options. There were a handful of global players and a handful of local brands. So local brands were doing the job of creating a disruption in terms of price, but they were definitely not competing with global brands on the quality of the product, and therefore, the user experience with their devices was not so good.
IBNLive: So what is that key formula that you have opted for to create a space for yourself?
Sachin: So we are aiming to offer unmatched product quality at very reasonable prices. For instance, if you look at at what we have at Rs 4,999, Rs 5,999, or Rs 6,999 price points, you will realise that the same quality is available at twice or thrice the price from the competition.
IBNLive: Given that your cheapest smartphone (M260) is priced at Rs 3,999, how low do you think the price for a decent smartphone can be?
Sachin: This is very difficult to answer. It depends on the development team as well as on a lot of external factors like exchange rate and the competitors’ pricing.
So right now, I will not be able to comment on how low we can price our smartphone in the future, but definitely we have ambitions to launch a sub-Rs4K smartphone with a screen larger than 4-inches. Because at this price point, the competition normally offers a 4-inch device with a lousy camera.
IBNLive: So when can we see another product in the same price segment?
Sachin: In February.
IBNLive: Can you share some details about the product?
Sachin: Right now, it is still under negotiation in terms of specs and design. I can update you once they are finalised.
IBNLive: What is the next smartphone from InFocus that we can see in the Indian market?
Sachin: We will be launching the M680 in mid-December. It features a 5.5-inch full HD display and a metal body. The key selling point of this phone will be an octa-core processor with a 13 megapixel front camera and a 13 megapixel rear camera. Also, it is quite slim and measures around 7.6mm thick.
Also, it’s been crafted very well. So normally, what you see in 5.5-inch devices is that they are very thick and bulky, but the InFocus M680 will be one of the slimmest phablets around in its category.
IBNLive: Can you share more details about the phone?
Sachin: It will have 2 GB of RAM and an internal storage of 16 GB (with support for microSD card up to 64 GB). It will be available only online.
IBNLive: What about its pricing?
Sachin: It will be priced between Rs 11K-12K.
IBNLive: And what all phones are you planning to bring to India next year?
Sachin: We are planning to come up with new launches after February, basically after the Chinese New Year.
IBNLive: Like?
Sachin: I can’t share anything right now as it’s still 3-4 months away, and in the smartphone space a lot of change can happen in 3 months.
IBNLive: Does InFocus have any plans to foray into the wearables market?
Sachin: We have a product, but we are not talking about it as we are not very sure about the market. So, we are waiting for some more time.
IBNLive: Would be great if you could share something around it?
Sachin: It’s a smartwatch and was developed around two months ago.
The watch is currently in testing stage. It is expected to come in different variants with prices ranging between Rs 7K and Rs 15K.
In terms of display and looks, it will be in line with what you are seeing in the market, but on the USP front, we are planning to infuse some utility targeted at different set of users, let's say women and kids.
It will be a smartwatch for everyone with some of the features targeted at a particular set of users.
IBNLive: So when are you planning to launch the smartwatch?
Sachin: So far, we haven’t planned the launch, because the market itself is not responding to this category.
IBNLive: What else, apart from smartphones and smartwatch, that we can see you coming up with in the near future?
Sachin: We are soon going to launch television sets and laptops.
IBNLive: And when are you planning to introduce them?
Sachin: We will launch television sets either by the end of this month or early next month. And laptops will be introduced either during January-end or in February. We need to figure out the launch timings and delivery schedules.
IBNLive: Please tell us more about your first-ever laptop(s).
Sachin: It will be full-fledged laptops in 13-inch and 15-inch variants. That means, it won’t be a hybrid. It will run Windows 10 with Intel inside. Also, some of them will have touchscreens.
The USP that we are going to bank on is the design. We have some good designs that are not available in the market right now.
IBNLive: How many models can we expect?
Sachin: We are trying to build a portfolio right now. But may be, to start with, two to three.
IBNLive: At what prices can we expect them to come at?
Sachin: Not yet decided.
IBNLive: Can we expect them to be priced between Rs 25K and Rs30K ?
Sachin: No. Below Rs 25K.
IBNLive: What would be the starting price for your television sets?
Sachin: Rs 10,000 onwards.
So, we are going to launch them in 24 inches, 32 inches, 40 inches and 50 inches. We are trying to bring in 60 inches as well. It’s the same portfolio that we showcased this year.
IBNLive: InFocus recently introduced the Kangaroo, a $99 Windows 10 pocket-sized PC. Any plans to bring that to India?
Sachin: A difficult question, as I myself haven’t seen that. I will find out and let you know.
IBNLive: How are you planning to offer users a good customer-service experience?
Sachin: We have already got 137 customer service centres, possibly spread in 122 cities across the country. We have a dedicated call centre support. We, perhaps, are the only company in the mobile industry which is publishing spare part costs which a customer has to pay when the device is out of warranty. So, we are that transparent.
IBNLive: How is your partnership with Foxconn helping you?
Sachin: Foxconn is our strategic partner. We outsource the phone manufacturing including designing and R&D. So from designing the phone to its manufacturing, everything is done by Foxconn.
It is helping us in a big way. One, the quality of products is excellent. Second, customers don’t have to face any challenge in using the product because of its durability. Third, the word of mouth spreads, which is an indirect benefit to us.
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