Docoss Director, Shashi Kant Sharma, talked to Digit, explaining the company's plans with the Docoss X1 smartphone.
Have you heard of the Docoss X1 smartphone yet? Priced at Rs. 888, the Docoss X1, has been the talk of the town. It’s a 3G handset, sold out of Jaipur, and its obscene price has drawn a lot of interest, while also inviting comparisons to the infamous Freedom 251 smartphone recently. We had a quick chat with Shashi Kant Sharma, Director, Docoss, and asked him some of the burning questions. Here’s what he had to say.
Are you manufacturing this smartphone?
No, we’re simply importing it. The entire manufacturing is based in China and we have no part in that.
How are you offering such a low price?
We’re going in for affiliate marketing. The Docoss X1 will have apps like Flipkart, Amazon and various other Indian e-commerce apps. Each time a Docoss customer installs these apps on their phones, we will get anywhere between Rs. 22-40 for it. This is how we plan to earn from this smartphone. In fact, this is only our first smartphone. We’ll have another one soon.
How many phones do you plan to sell?
In the first stage, we plan to sell 40,000 units of the Docoss X1, deliveries for which start on May 2. We will also have a 4G handset after this.
Why are your customer care helplines not reachable since morning?
We have 25 lines at the moment. We have been getting too many calls, because of which they have been busy. Some people didn’t get confirmations for their SMSs, which led them to call us. I assure you that this will not continue in the long run.
How did you come up with the idea of selling smartphones?
We have been in the affiliate marketing business for over a year now. We have apps, like Indiacharge, and justpayindia.com, which are built on the same lines. So, we thought of bringing this same approach to smartphones. It should help us make up the cost and earn profits. The company was registered two months ago, but the idea has been brewing for longer.
How many registrations have you received till now?
If you can give us some time, we'll give you that number in two days, when registrations end.
What is your response to comparisons between you and the infamous Freedom 251?
I explained our business model to you. We are quite clear about what we're doing, and such comparisons don't matter. Everyone knows what the Freedom 251 is, we're not the same.
These are initial response from Sharma. We have already contacted Flipkart, for clarification on the affiliate program that Docoss mentioned. We'll be following this story further, and verifying the claims.
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