When it comes to the smartphone market in India, the sub-Rs 8,000 handset market is often ignored, though it still has a sizeable user base. According to recent Counterpoint Research, nearly 370 million users still rely on feature phones and budget smartphones (which are priced under Rs 8,000) in India. Its survey also showed that Transsion's Itel has emerged as a trusted brand in this segment. And there’s a reason why itel is focusing on this segment as well as it helps 2G users switch to 4G. "As a responsible brand, Itel is navigating the transition from 2G to 4G by exposing Indian users to decent innovation and trendy technology at affordable prices," Arijeet Talapatra, CEO of Transsion India told indianexpress.com. “There is a huge population of 2G users. One is obviously making their life irrelevant because this is a segment which nobody talks about. People are talking about 5G and other newfangled things, but this set of people also needs to be taken care of," he added. According to Counterpoint’s survey, around 55 per cent of the respondents started their mobile phone journey with a device from itel and have also bought the brand’s device again. Samsung and Lava are the other two brands on the list. The Counterpoint survey also showed that users rated Itel the highest on parameters of "brand trust, pricing, after-sales services, appearance, and durability." (Image source: Counterpoint Research) According to Talapatra, users in tier-3 cities, and even those in villages are consuming more and more content on the internet, and require phones that can help with this. He gave the example of how “95 per cent of YouTube viewership is from tier-3 onwards cities and villages.” “YouTube on mobile as a medium has surpassed TV in terms of content consumption. So imagine all these people, the entire revolution, the way Jio has been spreading the revolution by making the internet affordable. So we as a brand have been taking mobile affordability to that level, making it a very gigantic bid with the Digital India mission,” Talapatra said. However, even as 4G continues to be the dominant mobile communications standard in India, 5G is seeing deployment, starting with tier-1 cities. When asked about the opportunities that the 5G boom will bring to the country and how that will affect the sub-Rs 8,000 handset market in the country, he said that “customers limited to the sub-Rs 8,000 segment might only be able to reap the benefits of 5G in mid-2024 and beyond.” He believes that there is already “more than enough opportunity in the 4G segment, especially in tier-3 cities.” But when 5G does pick up steam, he noted that the company’s other brands which are Tecno and Infinix will "get into the 5G vacuum." For itel, it is not just the affordable smartphone segment which is competitive. The feature phone market still represents an opportunity for the company, even though it is a shrinking market. He also pointed out that the 2.4-inch and 2.8-inch display feature phone space is highly competitive right now, with both Samsung and Itel trying to gain an upper hand. In his view, if Samsung were to exit the feature phone market, “it will be a huge opportunity” for itel. “We are ready with our portfolio with or without Samsung,” he added.
