2018 will be remembered as the most successful year for Asus in India as the company's aggressive pricing strategy helped it achieve new heights in the country. With just two models- the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 and the Asus Zenfone 5Z, the Taiwanese mobile phone maker managed to attract Indian audience. The company has today expanded its product portfolio in India with two new additions- Zenfone Max M1 and Zenfone Lite L1. Asus is looking to grab a 5% share in the hyper-competitive Indian smartphone market as it ramps up product portfolio in the country.
Asus Forays into Sub-Rs 10,000 Price Point
"India is a very important market for us. But we don't want to be just sellers of phones. We have spent a lot of time in research to understand consumer preferences and using those insights to develop features for our devices," Asus India Head Mobile Business Dinesh Sharma told PTI.
The company has seen strong traction for its recent launches like Zenfone Max Pro and Zenfone 5Z and is confident that it can exit the year with 5% market share, he added.
With an eye on sub-Rs 10,000 segment handset segment, which accounts for over 50% of smartphone users, the company on Wednesday unveiled two 4G smartphones Zenfone Lite L1 and Max M1 for Rs 5,999 and Rs 7,499 a unit. These smartphones will be available on e-commerce portal Flipkart. While the company announced the smartphones today, Dinesh Sharma stated the date of availability of these phones would be announced at Flipkart very soon.
Xiaomi Leads the Indian Smartphone Market With 29.7% Share
Right now, the Chinese handset maker, Xiaomi is leading the Indian smartphone market with a share of 29.7%. Smartphone shipments grew 20% to 33.5 million units in the June quarter 2018 compared to the year-ago period, with Chinese major Xiaomi retaining the top spot with 29.7% share. This was followed by Samsung (23.9% share), Vivo (12.6% share), Oppo (7.6%) and Transsion (5% share).
Talking about the festive season, Sharma said Asus expects to clock strong growth in line with the industry's double-digit growth. Asus, earlier this year, had signed a long-term partnership with Flipkart to sell its devices on the e-commerce major's platform.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 and Zenfone 5Z Did Exceptionally Well During Flipkart Big Billion Days
During an interaction recently with TelecomTalk, Dinesh Sharma stated that its two phones of 2018- the Max Pro M1 and the Zenfone 5Z did exceptionally well during the recently concluded Flipkart Big Billion Days. Asus sold the Max Pro M1 with Rs 2,000 discount along with HDFC bank cards instant discount offer, while the Zenfone 5Z got a discount of Rs 5,000 for sale. That said, Flipkart might host Dhamaka Sale ahead of Diwali next month, during which it will offer the newly launched Zenfone Max M1, Zenfone Lite L1 and the existing models at discounted prices.
