ASUS's Evolution in Market
ASUS's Evolution in Market
ASUS's Evolution in Market
John Chen
Business Head, Mobile Communication Business,
ASUS (India)
How has been the journey of ASUS PDAs in the Indian market?
We started with a very niche segment of the mobile market when we started selling PDAs in India. Having launched PDAs for almost all price segments in India, the journey was quite successful. In fact, we were quite enthusiastic about the demand for ASUS-branded PDAs operating on Windows Mobile platform and our ASUS P320 PDA was the first touchscreen phone to be launched with Windows Mobile Software in the 10-11K bracket. We did a good job of capturing the market for PDAs operating on the Windows mobile segment. Our ASUS P527 phone was considered as a good value for money with its performance packed features. However, we started focussing on producing quality smartphones (specializing in providing location-based navigation software) due to changing market sentiments and we have stopped manufacturing PDAs now.
How has your ASUS-Garmin product line taken off in India?
Currently, we are present in the Indian market in the form of 4 mobile handsets which include the Garmin-Asus M20, G60, M10 and the recently launched Android 2.1 based Garmin-Asus A10. The response to the phones was not very enthusiastic as we mistimed our entrance in the Indian market as the mobile market has not yet matured enough to be able to fully utilize the potential of GPS services on a professional level - something which was the forte of our brand. We, however, hope to continue providing more such feature-packed phones in the future and do understand that the market is continuously evolving and there will be a need for such smartphones in the future.
These days we are seeing Blackberry and other major players announcing smartphones at a very competitive pricing. How do you see the market for PDAs vis-a-vis smartphones?
PDAs as a segment are considered to be generationally older compared to smartphones, although both have their set of advantages and disadvantages. Smartphones have now overtaken the growth rate of even normal phones in almost every country, including India. Now with the dissolution of the Garmin-Asus brand, we will gain greater flexibility and response time of product development and market feedback than compared to before and thus coming out with better products as well in terms of smartphones. We have already stopped producing PDAs and are now concentrating on producing high-quality smartphones. As a brand, ASUS will maintain its focus on producing high-quality smartphones based on both the Windows and Android Platform.
How do you place ASUS in India?
Considering the fact that we focussed majorly on providing handsets that specialized in providing high class navigation based services, we were successful to quite some extent in gaining good brand traction in the market for smartphones based on Windows mobile platform. However, with the recent spate of events, it will be premature to evaluate the position of our brand in the Indian market. We will try to provide leading technologies and features across all price ranges to consumers and it will be our endeavour to add the prowess of both the highly successful Windows and rapidly-evolving Android platform as well.
What are your future plans?
We will no longer be selling products under the Garmin-Asus brand. However, ASUS smartphones will have the exclusive right to Garmin's navigation software for Android phones. We plan to incorporate the Cloud technology platform on our mobile devices to assure consumers the best navigation and entertainment experience anytime and anywhere. It will be only by the end of the first quarter of 2011 that we will be able to offer something entirely new in terms of products. However, upgrades and service enhancements to the existing models will continue as planned.
Do tell us something about your channel presence in the country? How are you addressing the after-sales services?
We are present in all the metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. All "A+" and "A" retail outlets have ASUS or Garmin ASUS smartphones available for retail. We are targeting customers who have the ability to enjoy and appreciate the benefits of a smartphone powered with navigation technologies. Apart from these sections, we are also present in all the major LFRs in the country like Croma, Reliance and Hypercity. We have a robust after-sales service mechanism with 22 ASUS Customer Service Centres and 3 ASUS Royal Service Centres making the total to 25 spread across all over India. Our products have a strong emphasis on quality and features as well as are supported by a full year of warranty support for any issues to be sorted out easily.
What is the break-up of sales happening from traditional retailers and LFRs?
The traditional retailers still rule the smartphone mobile market with above 60% of our sales happening from them. However, LFRs are also growing significantly, especially in the Western and South cities of India. With more and more aggressive campaigns from LFRs, we are expecting to see their share rise in the next few years.
For more contact: beenish@varindia.com
Is The Best Cityville Guide Online A Scam? YES! Read This Review Shop Until You Drop Scam Social Media Marketing Machines bonus Using Online Faxing for Marketing and Promotions Affiliate Marketing Course - No Product, No Website, No Experience Required! What Is Resveratrol: Its Advantages, Its Popularity And Its Market Cheap Unsecured loans- Minimum Risks and Maximum Profits Penny Stock Prophet Forum-Magic stock picking strategy that will bring unlimited possibilities to your profits Will Telemarketing Save Us? Kaching Kaching Review- Is This Opportunity A Scam? Why online marketing st Louis is more in demand? Make Your Marketing Scheme Succeed With Bulk Mailing Where to Sell Wildlife Pictures For Profit?