{"id":7299,"date":"2023-09-24T09:13:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T09:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/indias-lava-looks-to-corner-a-third-of-feature-phone-market-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-09-24T09:13:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T09:13:04","slug":"indias-lava-looks-to-corner-a-third-of-feature-phone-market-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/indias-lava-looks-to-corner-a-third-of-feature-phone-market-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"India’s Lava looks to corner a third of feature phone market | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Homegrown Indian mobile phone firm Lava will launch 4G feature phones as it aims to corner a third of the market share for the entry-level devices within a year, while also gradually boosting its budget smartphones, a top executive said.<\/p>\n

Since it was set up in 2009, Lava has become popular for the budget phones, which have a keypad but no high-end features.<\/p>\n

The company will launch 4G feature phones in the effort to take its market share in the segment to 35% within a year, up from 26% now, said Sunil Raina, the president and business head of Lava International.<\/p>\n

The firm wants to “come to a very dominant position” in this segment, he told Reuters in an interview.<\/p>\n

Research firm Counterpoint estimates that Lava has a share of less than 1% in the world’s second-biggest smartphone market, with 650 million such devices.<\/p>\n

Despite Indians’ growing use of smartphones, Counterpoint estimates roughly 290 million of the population still uses feature phones.<\/p>\n

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom arm recently\u00a0launched\u00a0a device in the category, offering services such as digital payments.<\/p>\n

Lava also plans to boost its smartphone offerings in the budget segment. In the next two years, it aims to exceed a 10% share of the market for smartphones costing less than 30,000 rupees ($360), from about 1% to 2% now, Raina said.<\/p>\n

All the firm’s smartphones will be 5G, or next-generation, supported by next year, he added.<\/p>\n

“We believe we can be quite a significant player in this (budget) segment,” Raina said, adding that phones costing less than 30,000 rupees ($360) would still form more than 40% of an estimated $72 billion smartphone market in India by 2028.<\/p>\n

“It does not mean that we don’t want to go above 30K … We are building our capabilities step by step”.<\/p>\n

Lava’s strategic bet on the affordable category runs counter to moves by top players Samsung\u00a0and Xiaomi, which increasingly offer\u00a0premium smartphones\u00a0as Indians upgrade their devices.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Lava has moved all its design and manufacturing operations to India from China.<\/p>\n

While it shelved a plan for an initial public offer in 2021, Lava is eyeing a listing down the road as it builds out the smartphone business, Raina added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n