HTC Desire 616, One (E8) smartphones launches in India at Rs. 16,900, Rs. 34,990 respectively

New Delhi: Buoyed by strong growth in sales in the country, Taiwanese handset maker HTC today said it aims to capture 15 per cent share of the multi-billion dollar Indian smartphone market. The company launched two new handsets – Desire 616 and HTC One E8 – priced at Rs 16,900 and Rs 34,990, respectively.
“India ranks among the top two countries in South Asia for us. Growthwise, sales volumes have tripled both month-on-month and year-on-year. The opportunities here are phenomenal. India is one of the countries where products are launched earlier than others,” HTC South Asia President Jack Yang told PTI. He added that the company is focussed on bringing new models at innovative price points.
“Various industry reports suggest that we have a 4-6 per cent market share. I would want to grow this to 15 per cent,” HTC Country Head India Faisal Siddiqui told.
He, however, declined to comment on the timeline.
“We have increased our sales points as well as service centres. We are seeing some gains. We are strong in the mid-range (Rs 10,000-Rs 30,000) smartphone segment,” he said. Asked if the company would launch a smartphone in the sub Rs 6,000 category, Yang said: “Our Desire 210 (priced about about Rs 8,700) is probably the lowest we will go.”
The dual SIM (nano) HTC One (E8) sports a five-inch screen and is powered by 2.5 GHz quad-core processor and Android Kitkat OS. It has 2GB RAM, 16GB storage (expandable up to 128 GB), 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and 2,600 mAh battery.
The HTCs Desire 616 is a dual SIM device, powered by 1.4 GHz octa-core processor. It features a five-inch screen, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory (expandable upto 32GB), 8MP rear and 2 MP front camera as well as a 2,000 mAh battery. The Indian smartphone market is witnessing strong competition between local and international players, all vying to grab a share of the multi-billion dollar market.
According to IDC, smartphone sales in India grew almost three-fold to over 44 million in 2013, buoyed by affordable devices made by local firms such as Micromax and Karbonn.
In the first quarter of 2014, 17.59 million smartphones were shipped into India as compared to 6.14 million in the same period of 2013.
Samsung was the market leader in the category with 35 per cent market share in Q1, followed by Micromax (15 per cent), Karbonn (10 per cent), LAVA (6 per cent) and Nokia (4 per cent).
Affordable smartphones, especially those priced in the sub-USD 200 category (Rs 12,000), are doing well in the Indian market.