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<ul><li>PVR INOX Passport allows users to watch 10 movies/month on weekdays for ₹699, consumers can watch.</li><li>It’s targeted towards senior citizens, housewives and more importantly students and youngsters.</li><li>Passport can energize weekday theater occupancies and improve F&amp;B sales, say analysts </li></ul>How many people watch ten movies a month? Not even in the hay days, when movies were a key source of entertainment. Now, at a time when theaters are struggling with occupancies and footfalls, India’s largest multiplex chain has brought out its PVR INOX Passport. For ₹699, consumers can watch 10 movies in a month on weekdays but without access to its IMAX, Gold, LUXE and Director's Cut services. Even as the movie industry saw post-pandemic successes with RRR, Pathan, <keyword id="6498265" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pushpa" source="Orion">Pushpa</keyword> and Rocky and Rani Ki Prem Kahani, occupancies haven’t yet hit pre-Covid levels. Now, PVR is hopeful that with this limited period offer, they can bring back some of those who have lost the habit of watching movies on the screen. “The three significant target groups we are focusing on are students, housewives, and senior citizens, where we believe lies a great opportunity. We expect this innovative offering will not only revitalize weekday cinema attendance but also introduce a new dimension to how our patrons interact with and enjoy the world of cinema,” said Gautam Dutta, co-CEO of PVR INOX. The big screens are being hurt by OTT’s weekly and monthly launches of shows and direct-to-OTT movies. Moreover, GenZs with mobiles and easy data access, find little allure of watching movies in a size larger than life. Unlimited OTTs plus limited theatrical releases PVR is trying to build a habit of making movie watching a social outing that it has been for generations before. OTTs have also upped their ante during the pandemic and has brought back movie loving public into its fold. The time lag between a theatrical release and their satellite/OTT debuts have come down drastically. In some cases, it’s a matter of a few weeks. Added to that, a few superstar-starring, much awaited movies are going directly to OTTs. Case in point – Knives Out ‘Glass Onion’ starring Daniel Craig had a ‘limited’ release before it hit Netflix. Even Martin Scorsese planned the same for his ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ but canceled it. There are more examples closer home too. One of Bollywood’s most-awaited debuts with three star kids directed by Zoya Akhtar is The Archies. The off-beat movie starring Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda, and late actress Sridevi’s daughter Khushi Kapoor, is coming to Netflix. More reason for the young to subscribe to Netflix and chill, instead of making a movie date. “This move may eventually bring the youth back to the cinemas, which will be a big positive structural trigger. The only ponderable is if lower pricing or good content would be the decider to usher in this change,” says Karan Taurani, research analyst at Elara Capital in a note on the offer. Without the price-barrier If there ever was a good way to bring back young people to try something, price reduction is the way to go. Many apps and new-age businesses are built on this theory. PVR’s Passport plan however does zero or no damage to their economics. As per Elara’s calculations, pan-India, annual average occupancy for exhibitors for weekdays (Monday-Thursday) is around 17%. Discounted ticket prices may prop occupancy towards 20-25% it believes. “Increased occupancy may not come at any incremental costs and may drive better F&amp;B and ad revenue which is high-margin in nature,” Taurani adds. The Passport offer which is not available in the South of India, is also limited in nature. Only 20,000 of these passes are available. The idea behind it is not merely to boost weekday occupancy, claims PVR. “With the Passport, we have sought to break the barriers of cost and allow our newer audiences to immerse themselves in a wide array of movies across diverse genres. We expect this innovative offering will not only revitalize weekday cinema attendance but also introduce a new dimension to how our patrons interact with and enjoy the world of cinema,” said Dutta. Small vs Big Apart from limited releases, a lot of quaint small movies, whose surprise performance vitalized box offices are also missing. These are the movies that are being swept off by OTTs and as per media reports, producers and distributors are also getting <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/studios-fail-to-talk-up-movies-theatres-pay-the-price/articleshow/104897753.cms">tight-fisted with marketing spends</a>. Taurani says that theaters’ dependence on large-budget films increased to around 85% in Hindi <keyword id="25892" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="box-office" source="Orion">Box Office</keyword> (BO) which is a structural risk. If there is an option to watch ‘many movies’ with a prepaid option, the small movies which are hitherto undiscovered can get a boost. “It's about making every visit to the cinema an opportunity to discover something new, to be entertained, and to be captivated by the magic of storytelling on the big screen, even with the smaller films,” said Dutta. Be it big or small, a movie on a big screen is always an experience. Whether the younger generation who is reportedly more keen on experiences than anything will subscribe to it, is yet to be seen. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/what-do-genzs-think-about-the-number-of-work-hours-in-a-week/articleshow/104874213.cms">My shift is over: Why do GenZs say it, and is it a bad thing?</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mamaearth-ipo-honansa-consumers-d-street-debut-to-be-an-acid-test-for-d2c-companies/articleshow/104840366.cms">Honasa Consumer’s D-Street debut an acid test for D2C companies </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mamaearth-ipo-honansa-consumers-d-street-debut-to-be-an-acid-test-for-d2c-companies/articleshow/104840366.cms" style="font-size: 16px;"></a> <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div>

PVR woos Netflix n Chill crowd back to big screens with its Passport

<ul class="summary-list"><li>India and China's rivalry will likely intensify in the Indian prime minister's third term in office.</li><li>Both countries have self-reliance as a policy priority — which means they will both go big into manufacturing.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indian-election-results-shocking-blow-narendra-modi-2024-6">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> this week secured a historic third term in office — and it's likely to intensify India's economic rivalry with China.As David Lubin, a senior research fellow at London-based think tank <a target="_blank" href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/06/achieve-developed-india-modis-new-government-will-prioritize-manufacturing-sector-better-or">Chatham House,</a> wrote on Thursday, the rivalry is likely to heat up because Modi and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have the same obsession for their country: self-reliance.Modi has a vision for <a target="_blank" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/mission-2047-india-charts-road-to-a-developed-economy/articleshow/108953808.cms?from=mdr">Viksit Bharat, or "Developed India,"</a> that sets a pathway for the South Asian giant to become a developed economy by 2047.Meanwhile, Xi's vision for China is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-26/xi-s-vow-of-world-dominance-by-2049-sends-chill-through-markets">global dominance by 2049.</a>"Competition for economic leadership in Asia is in the air," wrote Lubin.<h2 id="a2dd3c88-d3f0-4b03-a2a9-5ef7ac76ad48">Both India and China will be focused on manufacturing</h2>To reach its goal, Modi's India will likely be going big on manufacturing."The pursuit of national greatness is, essentially, a relative game, and for India, the comparison that matters is with China," wrote Lubin.Since self-reliance is a policy priority for both India and China, "an obsession with manufacturing is likely to accompany it," Lubin wrote.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/IND">India's GDP</a> of $3.9 trillion is far behind <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/CHN">China's $18.5 trillion GDP</a>. And China has served as the world's factory floor for the last four decades — but the tides are changing.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-trade-war-covid-companies-moving-supply-chains-2022-12">Companies are diversifying their operations </a>outside China to avoid over-relying on one country, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-india-supply-chain-covid-sanctions-manufacturers-relocating-tariffs-options-2022-12">India is aiming to be the new China.</a>Given that India is now the world's most populous nation — with <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/special-reports/look-forward/india-s-demographic-dividend-the-key-to-unlocking-its-global-ambitions">65% of its population</a> under the age of 35 — there are huge opportunities for the South Asian nation.However, with Modi's party losing its parliamentary majority, this means it will be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-election-results-complicates-plans-unseat-china-modi-bjp-2024-6">much harder for his adminstration</a> to push through much-needed land and labor reforms to supercharge growth.In addition, as Raghuram Rajan, a former head of the Central Bank of India, told <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2024/06/04/g-s1-2226/india-election-democracy-china-economy-manufacturing">NPR's "Planet Money",</a> India is wading into a crowded space with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-trade-war-covid-companies-moving-supply-chains-2022-12">other emerging nations</a> such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Malaysia with their skin in the game.Rajan said India would do better to focus on the service industry, since the country already has a large English-speaking population.But Delhi is throwing big money to catch up with China, including over $20 billion worth of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.investindia.gov.in/production-linked-incentives-schemes-india">incentives and subsidies</a> to encourage output in 14 key sectors including electronics, automobiles, and EV batteries.It's also provided <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-renews-process-10-bln-semiconductor-incentive-scheme-bloomberg-news-2023-05-10/">another $10 billion</a> for the semiconductor chip industry — a hot strategic sector that Taiwan has an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asml-tsmc-semiconductor-chip-equipment-kill-switch-china-invade-taiwan-2024-5">outsized presence in.</a>India has been trying to woo <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-26/india-woos-intel-and-tsmc-to-set-up-local-semiconductor-plants">Taiwan's chip plants</a> to invest in the country and has had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/india-approves-three-chipmaking-units-worth-152-bln-2024-02-29/">some success.</a><h2 id="421605ca-e5e5-4946-afcf-cf011993a870">India's rocky relationship with China</h2>Given India's ongoing rivalry with China and the Modi government's eagerness to attract Taiwan investments, the Delhi-Beijing relationship is also off to a rocky start as the Indian leader kicks off his new term.On Tuesday, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/modi-straight-from-reelection-anger-china-taiwan-india-2024-6">Modi angered China</a> — which claims Taiwan as its own territory — when he accepted Taiwanese President William Lai's congratulations following India's elections."China opposes all forms of official interactions between the Taiwan authorities and countries having diplomatic relations with China," Mao Ning, the spokesperson for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202406/t20240606_11405886.html">China's foreign ministry,</a> said at a scheduled press conference on Thursday.India's foreign policy toward China is unlikely to change following Modi's re-election, Ivan Lidarev, an Asian security scholar at King's College London, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/watch/what-does-modis-weakened-mandate-mean-indias-rivalry-china-4391006">Channel NewsAsia.</a>"India has pursued a very active foreign policy of kind of getting closer with the West and counterbalancing China for many years," he told the network. "There is a very strong consensus within India about this."China, meanwhile, will try to limit India's influence on the global stage, he said."I think India has strived to position itself as a leader of the global south, and of course, China wants this position," added Lidarev. "So we think that this competition is going to increase and I think that Beijing will do a lot to limit any Indian attempts to be seen as the natural leader of the world."

India's race to overtake China will intensify after Modi's reelection because they have the same obsession, analyst says

New Delhi, <keyword id="1065858" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iphone-maker" source="Orion">iPhone-maker</keyword> <keyword id="1676619" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="apples-supplier" source="Orion">Apple's supplier</keyword> <keyword id="6354671" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="foxconn" source="Orion">Foxconn</keyword> has committed to doubling employment, investments and business size in India by next year, underlining its smooth and rapid growth in the country, according to a social media post by a company executive. Wishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday on Sunday, Foxconn representative V Lee wrote in a LinkedIn post: "Under your leadership, Foxconn has grown smoothly and rapidly in India". "We will work even harder to present you with a greater birthday gift next year, aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI, and business size in India," Lee said in the post. Replying to the post on X (formerly Twitter), IT, Electronics and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Government is "fully committed" in its endeavour to support and facilitate. Earlier this month, Young Liu, Chairman and CEO of Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), said that India will be an important country in terms of manufacturing in the future, his comment adding to a growing chorus of global voices acknowledging the country's bold moves to position itself as electronics and hi-tech production powerhouse. In an interaction with reporters in Taipei, the top honcho of the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant had further said the development of the entire ecosystem and industrial chain, and opportunities for development in India are "very, very huge opportunities". "If there is no big change, India will be a very important country in terms of manufacturing in the future," Liu had said. In the past, it took 30 years to build the entire supply chain ecosystem in China, he noted, adding that while it will take an "appropriate amount of time in India" and the process will be shorter given the experience. The environment too is not quite the same, he had said pointing to the advent of new technologies like AI and generative AI. India is wooing global IT and electronics players with policy sweeteners and incentive schemes, making a push to position itself as a global hub for hi-tech manufacturing. India hopes to play on the strength of its storied talent and skill base, vibrant market, and enabling policies to corner a substantial chunk of new investments flowing into electronics and semiconductor production, and global value chains. Recently, as many as 40 companies, including big names like Foxconn Group, HP, Dell and Lenovo, applied for incentives under India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) IT hardware scheme for manufacturing laptops, PCs and servers. Last month, Foxconn also said it sees the potential of investing several billions of dollars in India if it gets to completely implement its plan. Liu during Foxconn's second quarter earnings call in August had said that the company's Indian arm has achieved a turnover of close to USD 10 billion on an annual basis and there is a lot of investment potential in India. He had said Foxconn operates about nine campuses in India.

Foxconn commits to double employment, investments in India

<ul><li><keyword id="570619" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cadbury-dairy-milk" source="Orion">Cadbury Dairy Milk</keyword> manufacturer <keyword id="2200852" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mondelez-india" source="Orion">Mondelez India</keyword> has unveiled a new experience center called ‘<keyword id="12394027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-purple-room" source="Orion">The Purple Room</keyword>’ in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai.</li><li>It allows consumers to experience the joy of watching their favourite Cadbury chocolates taking shape live in a 3D printer.</li><li><keyword id="1473906" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="anil-vishwanathan" source="Orion">Anil Vishwanathan</keyword>, Senior Director, Marketing, Mondelez India walks us through the research and execution process of bringing the whole experiential center together, his goal behind this new milestone and larger vision for the portfolio.</li></ul>Remember the old jingle, "<a href="https://youtu.be/z92njBwG62Y" data-type="tilCustomLink">Kitna mazza aaye re, duniya Dairy Milk bann jaye</a>?" The brand behind this ad, Mondelez India's <keyword id="136808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cadbury-india" source="Orion">Cadbury India</keyword> is converting this fictional world of being surrounded by chocolates, which was every child's dream, into a reality. It has opened its first-ever experiential center in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Called ‘The Purple Room,’ this experiential center takes consumers inside a chocolaty world, allowing them to experience the joy of watching their favourite Cadbury chocolates taking shape live in a 3D printer. <div type="image" title="Cadbury 3d printer" msid="87283017" hostid="261"></div> Throughout Cadbury’s journey, the brand has tried to offer a different experience to consumers. This time, it aims to take it a notch higher. Telling us why the brand chose to launch an experiential center, Anil Vishwanathan, Senior Director, Marketing, Mondelez India, said, “It's been a constant journey of bringing in new concepts and experiences from a premium standpoint, because that's what the consumer is looking for. Over a period of time, it has also translated into the way we are offering personalised and customised experiences on e-commerce and D2C side. Now, The Purple Room is yet another such initiative in the same context, where we are bringing in new experiences to the country and some of these experiences cannot just be done in the regular retail way. We want to offer novel experiences and we're starting with the whole 3D Chocolate but this is one of many interesting new things to market experiences that we want to bring to consumers.” The pandemic has proven how the value of personal attention may be far greater than we gave it credit. So, Cadbury’s The Purple Room is designed to consistently give customers more reasons to return by offering a personalised experience. It houses the whole Mondelez India range, a few exclusive products that are not available in India and also prints customised chocolates as requested by consumers in front of their eyes. When consumers walk out of The Purple Room, Vishwanathan is optimistic that they will be wowed. Talking about what he thinks consumers will feel once they visit, he said, “Definitely a wow. We don't want to create experiences that they've seen before. So that's what we're aiming for. It's not something that they would have seen, even if they've traveled outside India. It's not so much about exclusive merchandise that's not available in India, but available elsewhere, which I've imported. It's not an imported range. It's also not something that's available in the regular stores. Now, of course, you have consumers who also would want the regular merchandise, so we have the merchandise as well. But really the priority is set of experiences that are not available anywhere and maybe new to the country -- not been commercialized ever, and hence, getting consumers to feel a little bit of a wow and leaving the Experience Center saying `oh, this is what I would expect a Cadbury to be doing.’” Cadbury is relying on word-of-mouth to do its magic and bring in organic footfall. It has also planned a few local activations to spread the word about the new center. The idea of launching this experiential center was born earlier this year in January and it took Cadbury 10 months to bring it all together. The brand also wanted to wait for the market to open up. “We actually wanted to do it even faster and more possibly we could have had the second wave not come out. We were ready to launch faster. The launch date was reflective of when it is a safe situation, firstly, allowed by the authorities to open and then of course, the right time for the consumer also starting to feel okay to step out. Now, they're kind of coming back. The likelihood is that they'll come back with a bang because there's a lot of pent up feeling, ‘oh, I'm cooped up at home and I really want to step out, I really want to go somewhere and watch a movie.’ So as that feeling comes back, we see this as a great time to leverage as the momentum is gonna come back,” said Vishwanathan. But why ‘The Purple Room?’ “In partnership with <keyword id="531122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ogilvy-india" source="Orion">Ogilvy India</keyword>, we wanted to bring in a very recognizable element of our brand. And then also give a little bit of the premium feel to it. So pick up something which people can recognize, but it still evokes a little bit of a premium feel,” Vishwanathan told Ad and Media Insider. On a larger scale, Cadbury will be focusing on increasing its investments as the markets open up and launch new marketing campaigns around generosity. Sharing his optimism about the future, Vishwanathan said, “I think we have had good growth momentum. As we speak, we seem to have come out of the challenges of the first two waves, and we're positive about the future. In the long term, we do believe that we want to continue to grow the category. So we'll stay invested behind our core brands. We also believe the timing is right for us to bring back some of our innovation that we had pulled back for the last couple of years. So as we enter the new year, you will see some interesting innovations come, you'll see a lot of investment and you will continue to see the kinds of campaigns that we've been putting out around our overall purpose of generosity. And it's not just going to be linked only to chocolate, it's also around biscuits and beverages. You'll see a lot of purpose-driven interesting consumer engagement. You'll see a lot of thrust on ecommerce, you'll see a lot of work happening on digital. Most importantly, you will see us staying invested because we are optimistic about the growth opportunity."

Mondelez India opens its first-ever experience center in India; from custom-made milkshakes to 3D printed chocolates, here’s how it is wooing consumers

New Delhi, Mar 4 () ByteDance, which runs short-video platform TikTok, has launched a new music streaming service 'Resso' to take on competitors like Gaana, JioSaavn and Spotify in the Indian market. Resso, which calls itself the world's first social music streaming app, is also looking at expanding its service to Indonesia in the the next few months. "India is the first market where we are rolling out. The app is targeted at 18-24 year olds. It includes many exclusive and easy-to-use social features that will enable these Gen Z users to instantly connect with a larger community," Resso India Head of Music Content and Partnership Hari Nair told . He added that the company is working on expanding to Indonesia over the next few months. For accessing features like downloadable content, unlimited skips and high-quality audio, users will need to upgrade to a monthly premium subscription of Rs 99 for Android and Rs 119 for iOS. The basic app is free for users. Nair said the company's initial focus is on getting more users onboard but declined to comment on specific numbers. Noting that the company has partnered with local and international players, Nair said Resso has also inked deals with labels like Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Merlin and Beggars Group, T-Series, Saregama, Zee Music, YRF Music, Lahiri Music, Divo and Muzik 247, among others. Resso, which allows users to generate content for the 'Vibes' feature, has set up a content moderation team to ensure that that inappropriate content is put up. The app has a scroll format (similar to TikTok) and allows users to discover music content as soon as they open the app. "Gen Z and millennials are at the core of our offering and both music and social networking are central to their daily lives. The relationship between music and the listener is currently passive but with Vibes, comments and other features, Resso aims to transform this through a new and compelling music streaming experience," Nair said. With increasing availability of affordable smartphones and cheap data plans, India is the largest mobile data consumer market globally -- an opportunity that global tech companies are vying to tap into. TikTok, which is part of China's ByteDance, has seen strong growth in its userbase in India. The platform, which allows users to create 30-second videos, has seen content being generated across categories like education, entertainment and food. It has over 200 million users in the country. SR HRS

TikTok parent ByteDance woos India's Gen Z with Resso

New Delhi, Nov 19 () Music streaming service Spotify on Tuesday announced its first three original podcasts for India as the platform looks to bring in more local content to woo listeners in the country.
 Spotify, which launched its services in India earlier this year, competes with players like JioSaavn, Amazon Music, Gaana and Xiaomi-backed Hungama in the country where consumption of digital content is on the rise.
 The Swedish firm is bringing in cricket-centric '22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur', fiction thriller 'Bhaskar Bose' narrated by Mantra, and love and relationship advice-based 'Love Aaj Kal' by Aastha and Ankit, a statement said.
 These podcasts will go live on Spotify on December 3, it added.
 The announcement comes as a reiteration to Spotify's global audio-first strategy that focuses on the brand's potential to grow faster with more original podcasts.
 The launch of these new series also opens the opportunity for India's growing creator community to work with the company for creating and delivering content in engaging audio formats.
 "Storytelling is intrinsic to India, and almost nostalgic because most of us have grown on stories that our grandparents and parents told us; Spotify wants to re-establish that listening culture here, especially as users seek more screen-free moments," Spotify Managing Director (India) Amarjit Singh Batra said.
 Currently, Spotify has over 5 lakh podcast titles on the platform, up from 10,000 in 2018.
 Globally, Spotify has invested in new original podcasts in the US, Europe, and South America. In June, former US president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground, announced a partnership with Spotify to produce podcasts exclusive to the platform.
 The acquisitions of podcast networks Gimlet and Parcast, and creator platform Anchor have also enabled the company to invest in high-quality content as well as providing an easy way for creators to record a podcast, respectively.
 Spotify has also seen exponential growth in the podcast hours streamed globally (up about 39 per cent from the second quarter of 2019 to the third quarter) with podcast adoption reaching almost 14 per cent of total monthly active users (MAUs).
 While the US accounts for the largest share of podcast streams, a majority of the growth and listening is now coming from outside the US, Spotify said.
 "Just a little over one year ago, we announced Spotify for Podcasters, which provides listener insights to all creators who have podcasts on our platform. Today, we have 1,40,000 registered creators across the world, on the platform, and the data for a few of these creators shows that India features in their top streamed markets. Much of this content is lifestyle, educational, and news," Batra said.
 India features among top streaming markets for a number of podcasters on Spotify. SR HRS

Spotify bets on original podcasts in India to woo listeners

New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) The global mobile phone market is served primarily by five companies (Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Oppo and Vivo) and the time is ripe for India to integrate into the global value chain by providing an assembly platform to these global lead firms, according to a new report. India has already attracted initial investments from all these five companies that command 83 per cent global mobile phone revenue, which may bring more manufacturing to the country in order to reach out to global markets, according to the report by the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) and consultancy major EY. Currently, Indian companies like Lava and Micromax are producing mobile phones primarily for the domestic market. "These companies are yet to plug in to global value chain manufacturing in a significant manner. Domestic companies may begin by turning into white label producers for international companies and in the process refine their own capabilities," the report mentioned. India can ride on the distribution and retail networks of these companies to plug into the global value chain. The country has a young population that is willing to work and the manufacturing sector can provide them with job opportunities. "Currently, India does not have in-house technology and R&amp;D. Global lead firms can bring in advanced and cutting-edge technology that may not only aid the production processes of global lead firms but also domestic firms," said the report. However, in order to cater to the global markets, India needs to address a plethora of structural and governance issues. It is estimated that India suffers from various disabilities like high cost of power, tax and ease of doing business. This renders India almost 10-20 per cent less competitive than Vietnam and China, respectively. "India must address these disability issues in the long run. Meanwhile, in the short run, the government shall endeavour to offset these disabilities by providing incentives which are WTO-compliant, easy to implement and help India take off from the export runway," the report suggested. In the last 5 years, India has tried substituting imports of mobile phones and parts by imposing duties on imports of finished mobile phones and parts like batteries, chargers, wired headsets under the Phased Manufacturing Programme. While import substitution partially arrested the import of finished mobile phones due to shift of assembling operations to India, the imports of parts and components continued due to lack of volumes within India. "The plausible way through which India can increase volumes leading to build up of the domestic ecosystem appears to be exports," said the ICEA-EY report. India appears to have all necessary ingredients in place to encourage mobile manufacturing at scale and boost exports from the country. "The only piece that appears to be missing so far is the policy support to attract lead firms, incentivise production and unveil measures that provide cost competitiveness to industry or help offset the disabilities suffered by Indian firms vis-a-vis Vietnam and China," the report emphasised. --IANS na/

India needs to further woo top 5 mobile brands to beat China: Report

The US-based <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> has started testing longer subscription plans in the country, as it looks to woo new users in India where online video consumption has seen a massive growth in the past few years. According to sources, Netflix has started testing multiple months subscription plans (three, six and 12 months) that will be offered at a discounted price. However, this will be available only to some new users, and they may see different options, they added.
 The sources said the intent of the pilot is to see whether subscribers will be open to paying for several months, or a year in advance.
 Earlier this year, Netflix had piloted and then launched a mobile phone-only plan in the Indian market -- a first for the company globally. The new long-term plans being piloted are also India-first.
 When contacted, a Netflix spokesperson said, "We believe that our members may value the flexibility that comes from being able to pay for a few months at once. As always, this is a test and we will only introduce it more broadly if people find it useful."
 Currently, Netflix only offers monthly subscription plans across three price slabs of Rs 499, Rs 649 and Rs 799, respectively, apart from the Rs 199 mobile-only pack.
 Its competitors like Amazon Prime Videos, <keyword id="2739840" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotstar">Hotstar</keyword> and ZEE5 already offer annual subscription packs (Rs 999) which is cheaper than their monthly plans (ranges between Rs 99-299). A premium player Netflix started its operations in India in 2016 and has introduced a number of Indian shows on its platform.
 Last week, Netflix founder and Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings had said the company was focussed on creating original Indian content for audiences not just in India but also globally.
 "This year and next year, we spend about Rs 3,000 crore developing content and you will start to see a lot of stuff hit the screens. We got about 100 employees in Mumbai and a couple of thousand working on different productions. So, we are trying to become more Indian in content offering," Hastings had said.
 Globally, the company has over 158 million users. It does not provide country-specific numbers.
 There is a growing trend of consuming on-demand content services on television, a significant number of people watch content on smartphones. According to a FICCI-EY 2019 report, Indians spend 30 per cent of their phone time and over 70 per cent of their mobile data on entertainment.
 Online content consumption in India has seen massive growth with data plans becoming more affordable. Data rates in India are among the cheapest globally.

Netflix tests multi-month packs in India to woo new users

New Delhi, Dec 19 () Smartphone maker Oppo on Thursday said it will allocate USD 143 million in 2020 for supporting developers across the globe to boost its operating ecosystem.
 The company at OPPO Developer Conference (ODC) in Beijing announced "developer support programme Gravity Plan 2.0, for which OPPO will allocate RMB 1 billion (about USD 143 million) in 2020" which will majorly focus on Asian markets including India, the company said in a statement.
 The company also announced a USD 7 billion investment in research and development over the next three years to develop core technologies in hardware, software and system in addition to 5G, artificial intelligence, augmented reality etc.
 "Oppo understands India as their key market and aims to reach out to the large talent pool of innovators, developers and partners," the company said.
 The development comes a day after Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei and its sub-brand Honor approached developers in India to boost its own mobile application suite Huawei Mobile Services on the lines of Google Mobile Service.
 Oppo claimed to have made remarkable progress in building a new ecosystem, boasting more than 320 million monthly active users globally on its ColorOS operating system (built on top of Android OS) and accumulating a massive number of users across its applications, services, and content ecosystem.
 The company said that more than 120,000 developers have already joined the OPPO's platform till date.
 "With the help of ColorOS, which is available in more than 140 countries and regions around the world, the 'Gravity Plan 2.0' will build on last year's plan to provide sustained and all-round support to partners in the four major fields of applications, services, content and going global," Henry Duan, Vice President, Internet Services, Oppo said.
 The Chinese smartphone maker also announced USD 7 billion investment in R&amp;D.
 "Oppo plans to invest RMB 50 billion (USD 7 billion) into R&amp;D spending in the next three years to develop core technologies in hardware, software and system in addition to 5G, AI, AR, big data and other frontier technologies," the statement said. PRS MR
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Oppo announces $143 mn fund to woo developers globally, including India

<ul><li>Things are finally getting back to normal and people are starting to <keyword id="6354692" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="travel" source="Orion">travel</keyword> again. To make the most of this, intercity <keyword id="41800" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bus" source="Orion">bus</keyword> services player <keyword id="8824130" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="intrcity" source="Orion">IntrCity</keyword> has come up with its first-ever campaign.</li><li>We spoke to <keyword id="13458400" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="swapnil-tripathi" source="Orion">Swapnil Tripathi</keyword>, Chief Business Officer, IntrCity SmartBus about the spike in travel in the last few months and the kind of growth they are seeing, their new campaign and their larger marketing strategies.</li></ul>As things get back to normal and people start to go back to their long list of holidays that had been paused due to the pandemic in the last 2 years, IntrCity, a player that offers intercity bus services has come up with its first-ever campaign, 'It’s not a bus, it is a SmartBus'. Through the campaign, the brand wants to reiterate IntrCity SmartBus as a customer-centric brand. It is also trying to acquire new customers in Delhi and Bangalore through its communication. It also has plans of spending aggressively on marketing this year, to reach out to customers to further communicate the core offerings of the brand. Serving close to 1.5 lakh passengers every month, the brand currently operates in 16 states, covering over 630 routes across J&amp;K (Kashmir) to Kanyakumari (Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu). IntrCity SmartBus covers over 200 destinations across 228 cities. We spoke to Swapnil Tripathi, Chief Business Officer, IntrCity SmartBus to understand the brand’s journey so far and why it was a good time to release its first campaign, the kind of growth bus travel is witnessing currently and how they are making the entire experience safer for its consumers. Excerpts: Q) You have launched your first-ever campaign. Why was this a good time? After the dampening years due to the deadly second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and the Omicron era with extended lockdowns, inter-city mobility has gained momentum once again. The summer vacations will begin shortly and inter-city travel will get very intense especially with no travel restrictions after 2 years. Seeing the high demand for intercity bus travel and factors like traveller’s confidence has returned to the pre-pandemic levels for both leisure and non-leisure travel, we felt it is a great time for introducing our campaign #It’s not a bus, it is a SmartBus to highlight the comfort provided by IntrCity SmartBus for bus travellers. Q) Considering this is your first campaign, how have you been engaging with your consumers so far? Our core philosophy is experience-led where the focus is to ensure that every traveller ends up making us their default choice after their first trip with us. Hence the strategy is to acquire new customers from our relevant TG i.e. millennial professionals, college students, SMEs &amp; traders and travelling sales professionals. Needless to say that we have also created products like SmartBus Savings Card, Refer n Earn and loyalty program to ensure that every repeat travel is financially rewarding too. We engage with travellers at our lounges and inside the bus through our staff, where the captain ensures that they not only have great experience but understand how they can travel again with us. We have brand tie-ups which ensures that our travellers get overwhelmed with goodies as well as snacks which they can buy during the journey. IntrCity app helps one manage the entire journey experience smoothly accessing various tools like Track Your Bus, Find Boarding point, Talk to Captain, and Pre-order meal at pit-stop. Q) What kind of increase in demand has the company witnessed from the start of this year? Do you anticipate this number to only go up this year? We have registered a month-on-month growth at a consistent 40% plus growth over the last six months, as of February 2021 with milder slowdown during parts of January and February returning back and growing again from March onwards. In the last 2-3 years, the technology-backed aggregators have led to the creation of branded fleets on prominent 50+ routes across India. The introduction of mobility technology in inter-city buses along with the emergence of organised and branded players has transformed this entire ecosystem. We believe that our growth numbers will remain at this level and further improve paving the way to have 2000 buses by 2025. Q) Going ahead, what are a few key focus areas for this year? The key focus right now is going deeper into the heartland of India with expanding our services further into Tier I &amp; II cities in India. We are executing a mix of deeper penetration in routes that we are already active in along with adding new routes from existing hub cities. We’re aiming to have 2000 buses by 2025. Q) What are your broader marketing plans for the rest of the year? We focus a lot on repeat travel and hence have a lot of engagement activities and communication targeted at ensuring that our loyal travellers remain in touch between their two trips with us. Our in-bus goodies bag, surprise gifts and the captains ensure that customers should interact with the brand IntrCity and finish their trip with a very strong recall about us. The IntrCity app keeps them informed about new feature launches, new routes added, special offers and ensures that they travel again with IntrCity SmartBus. Q) Considering people are still cautious about travelling, how are you ensuring the safety of customers? Customer’s safety is our utmost priority. Using data analytics to offer detailed information like live bus status, estimated time of arrival at destination &amp; more, the SmartBus has been built as a centralised system, backed by AI-powered predictive algorithms, that connect long distance buses. This provides a standardised travel experience for our bus fleet. Our SmartBuses are designed to create, maintain &amp; grow our three core promises: safety, reliability and punctuality. Establishing safety parameters for our passengers is a core focus at IntrCity SmartBus. In line with this priority, we have built a central command centre to monitor and manage each bus journey, especially the long distance ones. Our command centre is connected with the driver’s interface in the bus, the crew app, the bus booking app for consumers, and all boarding lounges and boarding points. Our SmartBuses are also equipped with cameras and sensors that help keep track of the passenger count at all times. Every enroute bus is assigned with a Bus Captain who offers you in-person assistance throughout the journey. In case of an emergency, the captains directly contact the command centre for quick resolution ensuring that you enjoy an uninterrupted safe and comfortable travel experience. As a result of these safety measures, the percentage of female travellers who did online bus ticket booking with IntrCity SmartBus rose from 9% in 2019 to 25% in 2021. Every bus is thoroughly cleaned and sanitised before starting its journey, and the ‘cleaning’ status is uploaded on the bus ticket booking app for you to check. Our in-bus staff members wear protective gear throughout the journey and are thermally scanned before resuming their duties. Travellers are similarly checked and are provided with a hygiene kit with a sanitizer and disinfectant wet wipes. We have established IntrCity SmartBus Lounges, an industry-first effort, to provide consumers with a safe and convenient boarding experience. Q) How is IntrCity engaging with consumers from smaller cities? Are you also looking at regional campaigns? Our approach towards the customers from tier-II and III is multi-media campaign, vernacular content and communicating on how our brand is helping them for their very functional needs. We cater to functional needs of the travel and our primary routes are such where people travel for job, going to college campuses, visiting families &amp; relatives with very few leisure routes too. Hence we aim to convey how our buses remain punctual, are safe, are cleaned &amp; sanitized for contamination free travel. We follow a vernacular approach and have seen better engagement with local language content than English. Our selection of media and demography of users is purely based on locations we exist in and cater to.

You Searched For "woo India" and got 10 results

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