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Chinese smartphone makers strengthen foothold in RI market
A number of Chinese cell phone makers are intensifying their campaigns in the Indonesian smartphone market, despite the growing popularity of South Korean mobile devices from Samsung and American premium brand Apple
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number of Chinese cell phone makers are intensifying their campaigns in the Indonesian smartphone market, despite the growing popularity of South Korean mobile devices from Samsung and American premium brand Apple.
Lenovo, Huawei and Xiaomi are among the Chinese brands that are boosting their presence in Indonesia's smartphone market.
Lenovo, which tops the PC market worldwide, aims to lead the country's foreign-branded smartphone market after successfully climbing to second position this year from fifth last year.
'We already have a double-digit market share and we expect to maintain it until end of this year. We also aim to grab a larger market share to become number one,' Lenovo Indonesia MIDH (mobile internet and digital home) business head Agus Sugiharto told The Jakarta Post recently.
Director of phone distributor PT Trikomsel Oke Tbk., Ellianah Setiady, said that in Trikomsel outlets, the Lenovo brand was ranked second, surpassed only by Samsung.
Another Chinese device maker, Xiaomi, officially launched its debut in the country on Wednesday and will start selling its Android smartphone ' Redmi 1S ' early next month.
Xiaomi co-founder and president Lin Bin said on Wednesday that he did not have any specific sales target for the Redmi 1S, but he expected between 1-2 million units could be sold in six months.
Bin refused to disclose the value of the investment that his company planned to pour into the country, but said Indonesia was one of Xiaomi's biggest markets with huge potential, as its smartphone penetration was still low.
- China's Lenovo, Huawei and Xiaomi boost presence in Indonesia
- Lenovo now ranks second in RI smartphone market after Samsung
- Another Chinese device maker, Xiaomi, made its debut on Wednesday
Indonesia's smartphone penetration hit only 23 percent, surpassed by Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, with a penetration rate of 80 percent, 49 percent and 87 percent, respectively, according to a report by Nielsen.
Bin said that to tap into the country's lucrative market, Xiaomi would focus only on online sales as it did in another six markets ' China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India and the Philippines.
'We want to invest in online. What we invest is in partnerships where we can work with partners to build up services,' he said.
Bin said his firm would fully sell its products through e-commerce in partnership with online retailer Lazada.
Xiaomi would also partner with Trikomsel to provide services.
'We're also looking for an offline option in the future, as it will be an option for places that can't be easily reached in the country,' he said.
Xiaomi has successfully grabbed attention from India's market by selling 55,000 units of its Mi3 phones in less than a month through an online store, which was built in partnership with Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart. Bin also claimed that Xiaomi had surpassed Samsung with a 27 percent market share in China.
Focusing more on e-commerce, Huawei also signed a deal with Lazada this month to sell its latest product ' the Huawei Honor 3C.
Lenovo, which currently has 3,000 offline distribution channels in 50 cities across the country, will also tap into e-commerce.
'We are approaching a number of online stores to become our exclusive partners in selling our smartphones to cater to the growing demand for online shopping,' Lenovo's Agus said.
Around 34 percent of the Indonesian population is connected to the Internet, according to the government. Online shopping in the country is to grow by 40 percent this year and 53 percent next year according to a recent survey by Visa.
