Motorola is preparing from a major sales shift from its online-only business model in India and is planning to make the phones available in physical retail stores in the country. Chen Xudon, Chairman of Motorola Mobility operation board told Economic Times, “Motorola will go offline to make sure that more people buy Motorola products from brick-and-mortar stores in India.” he also added that the online model will remain an important strategy for them in India.
The Lenovo owned brand has been selling its products exclusively on Flipkart and this online-only strategy helped it gain a significant market share. However, once companies like Xiaomi entered the market, its sales dropped. The move aims to make its smartphones available to a wider audience while also emphasising on the importance of the Indian market. Lenovo plans to position Motorola as a premium and separate brand in the country while while Lenovo phones will be more of a mass market brand. Xudong also said that the company may also look to bring its online-only smartphone brand, ZUK, to India.
Interestingly enough, this news comes just a few weeks after Xiaomi announced that it was partnering Redington to sell its physical stores in the country. Motorola plans to use Lenovo’s offline retail strength as leverage. As Lenovo is one of the largest PC makers in India, it already has a significant offline footprint in the country.
Earlier this week, Lenovo and Motorola had announced that they will start manufacturing smartphones out of its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. The plant is already manufacturing Moto E units and will start manufacturing the Lenovo K3 Note soon. Lenovo also launched the A2010, the cheapest 4G enabled smartphone in India.
Source: Economic Times