HTC To Expand Footprint In India Through Large Franchise Retail Chain Stores

HTC has announced that its plans to strengthen and expand its Indian operations in order to support future growth in the Indian smartphone market. As part of its efforts, HTC will be working with its national fulfillment distribution partner, Brightpoint India and new dedicated distribution partner for modern trade, Ingram Micro to increase its efforts in large franchise retail chain stores. HTC will focus on intensifying retail efforts across national, regional and local tiers, and also developing a comprehensive user experience for Indian modern trade channels.

"India's unique geography, culture and consumer culture create a complex retail environment that requires a deep understanding of local retailers and consumer needs," said Jack Tong, vice president, HTC Asia Pacific. "HTC is focusing on offering customers a better retail experience that fully represents what the HTC brand stands for."

HTC will also extend its reach into the modern trade segment, while continuing to forge strong ties with regional distributors and its Preferred Authorized Retailers (PAR). It will also expand its PAR network by offering a greater variety of retail branding resources. In addition, more intensive product and sales training will be offered to all HTC retailers, ambassadors and in-store retail staff.

As part of its growth plans, HTC intends to expand its distributor network at both the regional and local level. It plans to grow this network from the current 25 to 50 Tier 2 cities, and enlarge its footprint to a total of 100 Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by July 2011. HTC will also provide greater marketing and logistics assistance to all distributors as it builds a strong infrastructure to support the expected growth in the India smartphone market.

"We are taking the necessary steps to build a stronger, wider and more stable national infrastructure that will better support our retailers from the national through to the local level," said Ajay Sharma, Country Manager, HTC India. "This will enable HTC to deliver a consistent branding experience and enhancement of our retail capabilities."

Future potential of the Indian smartphone market

According to Gartner, smartphone sales in India made up 5.2 percent of total device sales in the first quarter of 2010, and Gartner expects this share to increase to 18 percent in 2014. In addition, smartphone sales to end users accounted for 19 percent of worldwide mobile device sales in Q2 2010, an increase of 50.5 percent from the second quarter of 2009. HTC has also entered the list of top 10 worldwide mobile phone manufacturers for the first time according to Gartner's latest report.

"The global smartphone market is poised for tremendous growth over the next three years, and HTC's focus on innovation and listening to the customer places us squarely at the forefront of that evolution." said Tong.

Tags:HTC, Telecom Franchise, Brightpoint India, Ingram Micro, Jack Tong, Ajay Sharma, HTC India, HTC Franchise, Electronics Franchise, phone store franchise.

Source:Cellular News/19 Aug 2010.


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