Infinix confident of strong festive sales, sees no slowdown

NEW DELHI, Sept 4: Mobile phone maker Infinix on Wednesday said it is confident of clocking strong sales in the upcoming festive season, and is strengthening its portfolio to cash in on the demand.

The company, which unveiled its latest smartphone, plans to bring out two more devices as well as earbuds ahead of Diwali.

“We haven’t seen a slowdown. Phones are a daily use item and not a big ticket item where people will delay purchase. Data consumption is growing and we are pretty confident of achieving our target of 50-60 per cent growth in sales this year,” Infinix Mobile CEO Anish Kapur told PTI.

He added that “growth rates may not be as high as previous quarters but the market is still growing”.

Kapur said Infinix is ensuring its lineup of products remains strong and the company – which focusses on the sub Rs 10,000 segment – remains “positive” about the Indian market.

Reports suggest that growth in smartphone sales could slow down in the second half of the year despite the festive season that accounts for a significant share of the sales.

Smartphone shipment in India registered 9.9 per cent year-on-year growth to 36.9 million units in the June 2019 quarter, as per research firm IDC.

Xiaomi led the tally with 28.3 per cent market share, followed by Samsung (25.3 per cent), vivo (15.1 per cent), Oppo (9.7 per cent) and Realme (7.7 per cent), it had said.

Infinix, part of China’s Transsion Holdings, competes against players like Xiaomi, Samsung and vivo in the Indian market.

According to IDC, Transsion Holdings – which also offers brands like itel and TECNO in India – had 4.5 per cent share of the total smartphone shipment in 2018 with 6.4 million units.

Infinix on Wednesday launched its HOT8 smartphone priced at Rs 6,999. It features a 6.52-inch display, 4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory and 5000 mAh battery. It has a triple rear camera setup (13MP+2MP+low lighter sensor) and 8MP front camera. (PTI)