ZTE makes its Smartphone bow in India

ZTE, the China-based smartphone and terminals manufacturer has made its long awaited entry into the highly competitive Indian smartphone market. The company has been part of India's telecom scene since 1999 and recently started offering its data cards. The company feels this is the right time for them to enter the smartphone market as well. Starting its journey in the country, ZTE will offer smartphones priced in the range between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 with varying display size and configuration.

Speaking at the launch, Xu Dejun, CEO, ZTE India said, "the Indian smartphone market has been growing at a rapid pace and going forward ZTE will like to be part of this market growth." ZTE is the second well known Chinese brands after Gionee to enter the smartphone market in India. Gionee launched its Elife E6 smartphone in the country recently, which received rave reviews for its features, product design and offering.

Making its open-market entry in the country, ZTE will service its products at their service factory based out of Manesar. The company has done its homework with its product offerings and customised the smartphones in accordance with the needs of Indian user. "We have designed our devices keeping in mind the need for long battery life, dual-SIM usage option etc."

The company has also opened up its first ZTE Experience Zone in Gurgaon that will house ZTE's wide array of smartphones, make them available for consumer experience and offer customer service to all ZTE users. Apart from all this, ZTE has also introduced first-ever ‘at your doorstep' service for smartphones in the country by any brand. "Initially, the door step service will be available for consumers in top six cities and valid till time of product warranty i.e. one year", the company spokesperson added.

ZTE is quite positive about its prospects and highlighted that it expects to reach 1.5 to 2 million unit's sales for 2014 with a PAN India presence to be covered by January end. Armed with Rs 60 crore marketing and branding budget, the company will be looking to make its mark amongst Indian consumers.