Interestingly, the UK-based $1.2 billion company, with five models of Fly -- the GSM mobile brand, is hardly three months old in this market.
CEO Rajiv Khanna said, "If you can bring new models to the market before the competition, the phones will sell automatically as people are looking for choices all the time."
He said about 2 million handsets were added every month in India, and about 70 per cent of the market comprised entry-level handsets.
Meridian Mobile targets the middle-level user segment and the replacement market. The company has touched 1,500 retail points so far.
In India, it has tied up with retail chains like Pantaloon and Subhiksha for store-in-a-store and has plans to set up 5,000 points of presence by October-end.
Khanna said the company planned to invest about $2 million as marketing spend. "We have made inroads in the market, though we have not resorted to advertising. Our brand ambassador in India -- model Malaika Arora Khan -- has a lot of aspiration-value."
"We are focusing on the 16 to 24 age group -- youngsters who view mobiles as lifestyle products and are willing to
spend. The segment accounts for about 15 per cent of the overall market," the CEO said.
With its phones being priced in the Rs 7,000-10,000 range, Meridian Mobile is targeting a turnover of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) this year.
The company says it enjoys 4 to 6 per cent share in the global market and hopes to replicate the same in India as well.
Fly may be new in the Indian market but is no stranger to the eastern and central European markets where it was launched about two years ago and currently markets around 2 million handsets a year. It is also being launched in the UK, Spain, Germany and south Asia.
Some of the models that have been launched in the Indian market are Fly SL 500M, a thin slider camera phone with Bluetooth; Fly SL 300M, a slider camera phone; and Fly 2040, a phone that can fit in your wallet.
A product group in Germany (strategic partner) conceptualises Meridian Mobile handsets' forms, while they are manufactured in Korea.
What works for the company, according to Khanna, is the "ability to buy loyalty". Agents earned anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 800 a phone against the Rs 80 to Rs 100 on other mobiles, he said.
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