We will continue to grow stronger in India: Fisher Yuan, Coolpad

Last month, smartphone brand Coolpad appointed Fisher Yuan as its new India CEO, after the exit of Syed Tajuddin. Yuan had earlier been associated with the company as Vice President.

Discussing the brand's India operations, Yuan spoke about new products in the pipeline, and more.

According to him, the company has already invested over USD 15 million in the Indian market in terms of stocks, infrastructure, workforce, and marketing. In the next five years, it has plans to invest over USD 500 million towards operations in the country.   

Many Chinese players entered the Indian smartphone market over the last few years, but only few have managed to grab the vast consumer share. Still, many companies are trying their best to regain the lost opportunity.

Yuan said the brand will focus on its product, technology, and marketing strategies to create a targeted value proposition for the diverse Indian market.

The brand will sell their product in a limited price; their target is to sell 3 million units by the end of 2019. “We have already hit the one million units mark in the last 6 months. In order to capture the maximum market share, we will focus on the INR 6K – 10K segment.  We are innovating our key features; our aim is to deliver the best combination of features and specifications at very attractive prices. We will be launching six new products by the end of July 2019”, Yuan said.

When questioned about competition from the likes of OnePlus and Xiaomi, he said, “It is important to note that OnePlus is not one of our competitors. The price point that the brand deals in is completely different from ours. As far as Xiaomi and other such brands are concerned, they have a very different product and sales strategy. Coolpad, at its core, is a customer-centric brand. We aim to offer the best smartphones at affordable prices.” 

“In 2016-17, we have secured 3% of the market share by launching top-notch smartphones with extremely competitive specifications and prices. On the back of our unique value proposition, we will continue to grow stronger in the Indian market”, he added.

In India, we are already seeing a proliferation of smartphones with the same set of features and price and it has limited the innovation bit in the products. Yuan agreed with the point and mentioned the reason behind it, “Considering the fact that the Indian market’s smartphones core suppliers and chipsets come from the same manufacturer, therefore, there might be some similarities in the prices and specifications. However, Coolpad has some unique features that are our key software and the look and feel of our smartphones which sets us apart,” he said.

The brand has no plans to operate through company-owned stores. “We currently have 10,000+ retail touch points in the country. However, since we are already seeing a lot of traction through existing touch points, we do not have any plans to launch our own sales stores in the foreseeable future”, Yuan added.

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