Blaupunkt To Enter Indian Mobile Handset, Smart Watch Market

New Delhi: German consumer electronics maker Blaupunkt will foray into the Indian mobile handsets space by the second half of the next year, targetting the mass market segment.

As part of its strategy to be a full range player in the segment, the company on Tuesday made the global launch of its range of mobile accessories, including earphones, charging cables and power banks, which are priced between Rs 300 and Rs 3,000.

"In this fiscal, we will launch the entire range of our mobile accessories in India and by the second half of next fiscal we will launch our entire range of smart devices, including mobile phones, smart watches and phablets," Blaupunkt (global intellectual property development) managing director Andrej Cebrat told PTI.

He said India is the first country where Blaupunkt's phone accessories have been launched. These will also be launched in other SAARC countries viz Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives.

When asked about the positioning of the mobile phones, he said: "We will be targetting the mass segment, where there is the market although the competition is very tough in India."

Bullish on the Indian market, he said the country represented one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world, having crossed one billion telecom subscribers this year.

On the accessories business, Mr Cebrat said the growth of mobile phones has fuelled the demand for accessories such as power cables, ear phones and data cables.

The company will launch its mobile accessories in 52-75 cities in India by the end of 2016. It has also tied-up with most of the major e-commerce players, including Amazon, Snapdeal and e-Bay, to sell its products in India.

"Currently talks are on with Flipkart," Vidur & Co director Madhur Madhav said.

Vidur & Co is the local partner of Blaupunkt in India.
The company, which has been present in India for the last 20 years in the car audio segment, has incorporated a lot of learning about the local market requirements to its new offerings.

"We have done a lot of research to understand the consumer problems and to address issues faced by them. These have been addressed through various innovations on our accessories, which are customised for performance under Indian conditions," Mr Cebrat said.

He said that depending on how the new products are accepted in India, Blaupunkt may consider introducing its other consumer electronic goods, such as television in the future.