<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/55177662.cms" /> With the launch of <keyword id="1543410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio-Infocomm">Reliance Jio Infocomm</keyword>’s 4G, there has been a tremendous increase in smartphones that support voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) feature. The demand has nearly doubled in the past few months. 
 
The interest for VoLTE-featured devices was shown by consumers in small towns as many people in these places associate the technology with free calls that the company is offering. 
 <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> is offering free phone calls for life and supports only VoLTE calling and this has made a tremendous increase in interest of consumers in VoLTE supporting devices. Internet searches for phones under Rs 5,000 VoLTE phones have increased and this has made the phone vendors to launch more phones supporting VoLTE feature at lower prices. 
 "To a consumer in tier 3 and tier 4 cities or lower down, VoLTE means free calls - because of <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> - that's why we see more demand coming compared to urban and tier 1and 2 cities. Tier 1and 2 level consumers understand the technology and know that VoLTE will give them better quality HD voice calling, due to three-four Chinese brands promoting their phones in such a way, but consumers in the lower tiers are not as aware of the new technology,” said <keyword id="676735" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pankaj-Rana">Pankaj Rana</keyword>, head of smartphones business at <keyword id="6367990" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Panasonic">Panasonic</keyword> told ET. 
 
According to the data by 911mobiles.com, Internet search volumes for VoLTE phones jumped 40 per cent sequentially in the quarter ended September just a few days after Jio launched its 4G. 
 
The increased demand for VoLTE supporting devices in smaller towns is because of the people there being most prices sensitive. 
 "With the launch of Jio services, we expect VoLTE capability to be a default functionality in smartphones and the ASP (average selling price) can penetrate sub-$50 (Rs 3,350) price band which will further drive the adoption,” <keyword id="1943940" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tarun-Pathak">Tarun Pathak</keyword>, senior analyst at <keyword id="6439913" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CounterPoint-Research">Counterpoint Research</keyword> told ET. 
 
By September end, 350 of the 1,132 models in the market were VoLTE-enabled. 
 “Six months ago, 4G had become hygiene for a metro consumer, we're beginning to see that with VoLTE now because of Jio,” <keyword id="400990" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Micromax-Informatics">Micromax Informatics</keyword>' chief marketing officer, <keyword id="232063" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shubhajit-Sen">Shubhajit Sen</keyword> told ET. 
 
VoLTE allows a telco to offer both voice and data without switching between bands, with voice being just another application that rides on an LTE data network, a technology that Jio has adopted. This compares with 170 out of 800 models, or close to one in five, till June. 
(image: Indiatimes)

Demand for VoLTE devices have jumped up, thanks to Reliance Jio’s 4G launch

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46146012.cms" /> Just two days ago <keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword> was in news because it became India’s leading smartphone player. It had toppled over Samsung to win the No.1 race, <a href="http://www.in.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/Micromax-becomes-the-leader-of-mobile-market-in-India-Samsung-refutes-those-claims/articleshow/46119576.cms">though Samsung refuted these claims</a> by citing GFk numbers. Well, that’s an old story now. The new story is that the Indian handset manufacturer has a new Chief Marketing Officer. Yes, you heard that right; Micromax Informatics has named <keyword id="232063" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shubhajit-Sen">Shubhajit Sen</keyword> as its new CMO. 
 
At Micromax, he will be tasked to focus on leading all marketing efforts for the company acroMicromaxss markets while strengthening the overall brand communication. 
 Sen replaces <keyword id="2716163" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shuvodip-Pal">Shuvodip Pal</keyword>, who was appointed as the CMO of Micromax In December 2012. Prior to Micromax, Sen was the Executive Vice President – Marketing of Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Limited for 21 years and served as the key resource to accentuate the successful journey of the company. 
 So, what new would Sen bring on table? Innovations that have a great impact on people’s lives, says <keyword id="127875" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vineet-Taneja">Vineet Taneja</keyword>, CEO, Micromax Informatics. While commenting on Sen’s appointment he had said, “As Micromax opens a new chapter in its growth trajectory; we welcome Shubhajit on board with us as the new CMO. He will prove to be a great asset to the Micromax leadership team. Being one of the best marketing veterans, he has a proven ability to create strategic clarity, drive innovation and growth, ensure disciplined execution, and deliver results. We believe that his passion for technology will help ensure that Micromax continues to deliver innovations that have a great impact on people's lives.” 
 
Commenting on his new role, Sen said, “It is an exciting opportunity for me to lead the marketing efforts for Micromax at a time when the brand is experiencing such a phenomenal transformation. As a marketer, I have always believed in consumer-centricity and Micromax has consistently understood, anticipated and shaped consumer’s expectations of the category better than competition. I look forward to building the Micromax brand philosophy further in its next phase of growth.” 
 
 An Economics graduate from SRCC, Delhi University and an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad, Shubhajit Sen joined GSK in 1992 as a Management Trainee and advanced through the organization to be the Executive Vice President-Marketing, donning various hats through the journey both nationally and globally. He has been the brain behind some of the most successful, award-winning consumer initiatives that have delivered superlative business results.

Micromax, India’s no.1 smartphone manufacturer, has a new CMO

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48292870.cms" /> 
Companies such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Micromax">Micromax</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Karbonn">Karbonn</a>, Lava, and <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> have increased their spending on digital advertising, to target e-Commerce savvy buyers. 
 <keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword>, the nation's No. 2 smartphone vendor, used to spend about 10% of its marketing budget on digital media till last year. But it has increased its budget. Now over a third of it goes to fund online ad campaigns, reported the Economic Times. 
 Not only that <keyword id="145729" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Karbonn">Karbonn</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Lava+">Lava</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Microsoft+">Microsoft</a> have also increased their spending on digital advertising. The companies want to focus on the fast expanding clutch of buyers who first do the online research to zero in on a product and then buy it from one of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-Commerce+">e-Commerce</a> sites. 
 
There are many benefits associated with the digital marketing. It is more personalised, which allows direct interaction between the brand and the consumer, and the response is easily measurable, unlike those on mass mediums like TV, radio or print. 
 
Digital marketing also offers data that industry experts say put them in a better position to make informed decisions. 
 
Chief Marketing Officer at Micromax Informatics, Shubhajit Sen, said: "We try to find out what people are talking today and if there is a scope or an insight to convert it into a marketing and advertising campaign." 
 
The company spends about 2% of its sales on advertising and marketing. In 2014-15, it posted sales of over Rs 10,000 crore. 
 Handset vendors are among the biggest spenders on advertising in India. Homegrown Karbonn and Lava, as well as Microsoft Mobile Devices said they have all significantly boosted spending on digital marketing in line with changing market trends. Some others such as <keyword id="874458" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Xiaomi">Xiaomi</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=OnePlus+">OnePlus</a> and <keyword id="11148" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Motorola">Motorola</keyword>, which sell products only through eCommerce sites, do most marketing through digital media. 
 According to experts, the handset vendors are tapping all the digital channels - search, display or social media. With India's increasing Internet usage, the spending on digital advertising will only grow. A surge in sales via eCommerce is becoming the main driver behind the increased digital spending of handset vendor, said Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at <keyword id="611566" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="CyberMedia-Research">CyberMedia Research</keyword>. 
 
"Every brand try to establish its presence in online space, since a majority of sales in future is going to happen through online portals," he said. 
 
According to Hong Kong-based market research firm Counterpoint, as much as 30% of the smartphones sold during the second quarter were through online channels and online-only smartphone sales contributed to more than 20% of the total sales. Companies can also fetch out insightful analytics from digital channels that help improve marketing strategy, Kawoosa said. 
 Karbonn Mobiles executive director <keyword id="315288" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Shashin-Devsare">Shashin Devsare</keyword> said that the efficacy which can be measured on digital medium is pretty strong. A brand can do segment targeting far more accurately than any conventional medium, and this leads to enhanced return on investment and better planning of marketing campaigns, he said. 
 
Solomon Wheeler, head of marketing and communication at Lava International, said content consumption of users has shifted from mass mediums to digital. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, and Microsoft have unleashed a marketing blitz in India!

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57055216.cms" />The year 2017 is going to be about <keyword id="3850482" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="4G-feature-phones">4G feature phones</keyword>. Yes, similar to 2016’s trend, this year 4G <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=feature+phones&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">features phones</a> are going to edge out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphones+in+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">smartphones</a>. 
 
The low-cost 4G feature phones are going to dominate the year due to affordability, durability and longer battery life. 
 
"Feature phones dominated total handset shipments in India in 2016 and we expect this trend to continue in 2017.The continued relevance of feature phones makes India stand out as the biggest feature phone market globally (comprising about 30% of total volume),” <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=JP+Morgan&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">JP Morgan</a> told its clients. 
 
It added with support for mobile banking and 4G capabilities (likely in 2017), feature phones will remain popular in the Indian market even in 2017. 
 
It is expected the smartphone shipments in India in Q4 2016 will slide to 20-25% sequentially, taking the total for the year to 108 million units. 
 “The 4G basic phone category will delay the migration due to the subsidy element and could be disruptive for about a year,” Shubhajit Sen, chief marketing officer of domestic handset maker <keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword> Informatics, told ET. 
 
Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mukesh+ambani&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mukesh Ambani </a>is all set to disrupt the feature phone market with launch of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=4G+feature+phones&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">4G VoLTE feature phones at Rs 3,333.</a>

Smartphone trend to fade? Low cost 4G feature phones are going to rule 2017

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/51646564.cms" /> 
Even though reports suggested that online shoppers would still get discounts on smartphones that they buy online, but the discounts would mostly be from new players who would be willing to grab a share of the Indian market. However, industry experts are of the view that even these discounts might go for a toss because of business sustainability reasons. As brands look forward to bringing pricing parity between online and offline channels, this might cause heartache to online shoppers. 
 The discounts and freebies were offered to gain business volumes by ecommerce players, but the <keyword id="1743250" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="new-FDI-rules">new FDI rules</keyword> bar ecommerce marketplaces from directly or indirectly offering discounts. So now, if there are any discounts, they would be offered directly by brands. 
 
"Discounting by ecommerce platforms will reduce but smartphone brands, especially new ones that want to gain market share, may begin deep discounting," Micromax's chief marketing officer Shubhajit Sen, told ET. The sentiment was shared by Atul Jain, COO at LeEco. 
 
However, if we look at the long term prospective, such a move would not be a sustainable strategy because smartphone brands already operate on wafer thin margins and would not like additional costs to sell their phones. 
 
"New brands coming into India will offer discounts on their own... but there won't be indefinite discounting," said Jaideep Mehta, MD, IDC South Asia. 
 
Other than this, brands will now have better control over the positioning and promotions of their devices, said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. 
 
"All the friction between brands and ecommerce sites has been due to differential pricing, so if the new policy is taking it away, it creates a chance for ecommerce sites and brands to collaborate through joint marketing programmes," Mehta added. 
 
<a href="http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/3/43300_01_report-mobile-shopping-amounted-more-25-online-sales_full.jpg">Image source</a>

Buying smartphones online for special discounts might be a thing of the past

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52792249.cms" /><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=chinese+smartphone+markers&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Chinese smartphone makers</a> are advertising and marketing their brands in India like never before, giving Indian counterparts new goals for re-strategising and re-branding. 
 
Brands such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=vivo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vivo</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=gionee&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Gionee</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=oppo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Oppo</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=leeco&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">LeEco</a> have increased their brand presence, majorly in offline medium than online and are even doubling the commission by 10 per cent. 
 
"Indian players, which usually operate on 2-3 per cent margins, are facing tough competition from Chinese players. Further, online-only Chinese players are willing to sacrifice margins, even go into negative margins," Counterpoint Research senior analyst Tarun Pathak, told ET. 
 
Not only this, the smartphone makers also paying charges between Rs 30,000 and Rs 31 lakh to mom-n-pop stores for redesigning their shop fronts and carrying the brand's name, which was done for free earlier. 
 "Tapping the retailers for a branding opportunity is a great idea which is proving to be effective for us," Vivek Zhang, chief marketing officer at <keyword id="215177" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vivo">Vivo</keyword> India, told ET. 
 
The Chinese presence has made Indian smartphone makers increase their budget for marketing and advertising as they have to match to survive the competition. 
 
Indian players such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=micromax&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Micromax</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=intex&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Intex</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=lava&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Lava</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=karbonn&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Karbonn Mobiles</a> have to compete aggressively. 
 "We've always maintained that significantly high advertising spends and trade margins to gain short-term market share is unsustainable - especially true in the current scenario where overall industry margins are under pressure," Shubhajit Sen, chief marketing officer at <keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword> Informatics, told ET. 
 
As of the quarter ended March 31, Chinese players had a 22 per cent share of smartphone sales, which is expected to increase to 25 per cent, said analyst Pathak. 
 
"We have spent about $10 million (about Rs 67 crore) on marketing online and print in the first quarter this year, and we will spend similar amounts for quarters to come," LeEco's COO Atul Jain told ET. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Chinese smartphone makers are raking in money on brand presence and this is giving Indian counterparts solid competition

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49055961.cms" />It is going to be a sparkling festive season for consumers as well as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphone+market">smartphone makers</a>. Companies like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=samsung">Samsung</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=micromax">Micromax</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=lenovo">Lenovo</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=sony">Sony</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=LG">LG</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=karbonn">Karbonn</a>, Intex, Lava and Gionee are going to launch an array of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=4G">4G devices</a>. 
 
The top brands will refresh their handset line-ups with 4G, which has seen a jump of around 20% in sales in the world's fastest growing market. 
 
After <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bharti+airtel">Bharti Airtel</a> rolled out its 4G services and upcoming launch of Mukesh Ambani's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Jio+Infocomm">Reliance Jio Infocomm</a>, the demand for 4G has gone up. 
 Shubhajit Sen, chief marketing officer at <keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword> Informatics, said the company will be launching around five new <keyword id="1948108" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="4G-smartphones">4G smartphones</keyword> across varied price points and specifications to address needs of the diverse consumer set. 
 
This festive season will also see spurt in online sales. The online-only smartphone sales have contributed to more than 20% of the total smartphone sales between July and September so far, according to Counterpoint Research. 
 "We soon plan to launch our new premium range of Xperia Z series <keyword id="6354775" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Smartphones">smartphones</keyword> in India, alongside global launch. Sony will pump in a total of Rs 250 crore towards marketing during the festive season," said Taro Yamamoto, head, Xperia division, <keyword id="233026" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sony-India">Sony India</keyword>. 
 <keyword id="6356116" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="LG">LG</keyword> has also earmarked nearly Rs 30 crore for marketing spend around Diwali this year and is expected 40-50% boost in sales. 
 
Indian vendors like Intex, Lava and Karbonn are also betting big on the season ahead and expecting to sell around 1 million smartphones. 
 
China's Gionee, which has ventured with Foxconn and Dixon to kick-off domestic production of handsets, will be spending around Rs 50 crore in marketing during the festive season with three new 4G models planned. 
 
Counterpoint has estimated 24% and 26% sequential growth in overall and smartphone market in the third quarter of 2015. In the October-December quarter, the growth is expected to continue because of Diwali falling near mid-November apart from other market forces and competitive landscape like Reliance Jio LTE launch and growth of ecommerce channel.

Samsung, Micromax, Sony, LG spark fireworks, all set to launch 4G devices this festive season

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47340582.cms" /><keyword id="71696" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Micromax">Micromax</keyword> would offer <keyword id="2858438" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="translation-and-transliteration">translation and transliteration</keyword> with 10, 000 apps in local languages for the first time in India to attract more customers. It would use a patented <keyword id="2858439" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Swipe-Technology">Swipe Technology</keyword> from MoFirst Solutions to do the translation works in 10 languages, including Hindi to English and vice-versa. 
 The leading homegrown handset maker Micromax would also provide access to <keyword id="2223587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="App-Bazaar">App Bazaar</keyword> with such apps. 
 
Moreover, the App Bazaar has some of the most accepted apps such as Skype and Clean Master and several others in 10 local languages, including Tamil and Marathi, which cover 800 million people in India. 
 
The handset maker would provide service in association with Mo-First's Android-based regional language operating system Firstouch. 
"We're confident that about 80 to 100 million new users will come on board the smartphone market in India. Which is why for us, getting the language piece right is very critical," Micromax's chief marketing officer Shubhajit Sen told the Economic Times, confirming the tie-up. 
 India's No. 2 handset maker Micromax wanted to establish itself in the country’s crowded market as its market share is declining compared to <keyword id="1048921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="chinese-smartphones">Chinese smartphones</keyword> in recent months. 
 
Micromax's Canvas Unite 3, which was launched this month priced Rs 6,999, has Firstouch's local language suite, targeting millions of people using smartphones who aren't comfortable with English. 
 
"The Unite 3 is a very strategic model for us where we're going a step ahead with translation and transliteration. We're going to work with them across all our phones for the language support, going forward," Sen told the financial daily. 
 
Micromax has established linkages with Microsoft, Gameloft, EA Games, Disney, Zapak and Sony Music to increase the number of apps. 
Micromax will begin a 360-degree advertising campaign in this month to promote the device. The device is available on ecommerce websites Snapdeal and Flipkart between Rs 6,700 and Rs 7,100. 
 
The home-bred handset maker had a 15.3 per cent share of the smartphone market at the end of March, as per Counterpoint Research, a sharp decline from 19.5 per cent in the previous quarter. 
 
MoFirst, which abandoned its own move to sell smartphones, is now working with an approach of making smartphone vendors partners rather than competing with them, in such a competitive market. 
 
Chinese smartphone makers such as Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Gionee and the latest Meizu are offering highend devices at very competitive prices, adding to the competition from local vendors such as Lava, Intex and Karbonn. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

You Searched For "Shubhajit Sen" and got 8 results

Demand for VoLTE devices have jumped up, thanks to Reliance Jio’s 4G launch

BI India Bureau

Micromax, India’s no.1 smartphone manufacturer, has a new CMO

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Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, and Microsoft have unleashed a marketing blitz in India!

BI India Bureau

Smartphone trend to fade? Low cost 4G feature phones are going to rule 2017

BI India Bureau

Buying smartphones online for special discounts might be a thing of the past

BI India Bureau

Chinese smartphone makers are raking in money on brand presence and this is giving Indian counterparts solid competition

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Samsung, Micromax, Sony, LG spark fireworks, all set to launch 4G devices this festive season

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Micromax turns ‘desi’ in a revolutionary way

BI India Bureau