- Various smartphone brands have requested the government of India to allow delivering smartphones to consumers via the online channel
- MAIT and ICEA, as per a report, have also written to the government
China-headquartered Realme and Xiaomi have requested the government of India (GOI) to include mobile handsets as an essential commodity. The deliveries of various items, barring essentials as directed by the GOI, have been banned during the 21-days lockdown period.
Social distancing can be increased if everyone is using a smartphone, Manu Kumar Jain, MD, Indian-subcontinent, Xiaomi, was quoted in a report published by the Economic Times.
Not a business opportunity
The smartphone companies have requested the government to allow delivering smartphones as not a part of the business opportunity but as a step towards fulfilling the essential needs of consumers. Smartphones were pointed out as a gateway to other services (invaluable) by CEO of Realme, Madhav Sheth.
Some brands have alsp requested GOI to allow opening up of some service-centers citing consumers asking for help relating to their devices. Smartphone shipments, as per a Counterpoint Research Report, in the online channel reached their highest ever share of 46 per cent during Q3 2019. Online channel shipments grew 55 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q3 2019 driven by new launches and aggressive sell-in ahead of annual online sales like Flipkart’s Big Billion and Amazon’s Great India festive season sale. As a result of this, both Flipkart and Amazon reached their highest ever quarterly smartphone shipments in the online segment.
“Within smartphone brands, Xiaomi retained the top spot in the online channels, with 38 per cent share, driven by the strong performance of its Redmi 7A, Note 7 Pro and Note 7S models. Festive offers brought down the entry-level price-point of Xiaomi Redmi series to ~$70 (Rs 4,999) leading to a strong uptick on Amazon,” read the report.
It continued, “Realme online shipments hit a record high with more than 4.5x YoY growth as it focused aggressively in sub $200 segment with some industry-first device features like 64MP camera. Samsung gained share in the online segment driven by success of its M30s model on Amazon, due to its long battery life (6000mAH) in the budget segment.”
