FT: Millet enters India to challenge Samsung

Lead: the FT online edition, published today in a commentary by China's Millet challenge Samsung in India (Chinas Xiaomi takes on Samsung in India), said that Millet would introduce a successful model of the Chinese market to India, This poses a challenge to bellwether Samsung and India's local manufacturers. The following is the full text of the article: China's smartphone maker Millet has begun to push aggressively into the Indian market, putting new pressure on the local handset market leader and sparking more competition in the booming Indian mobile phone market. Millet products have always been known for high quality and low price, and in the Chinese market has made great success, its last year's sales even more than the apple. Now, the company is competing with Samsung for the top spot in the world's largest smartphone market. Millet, though not yet on the market, won a 10 billion dollar valuation in the latest round of financing in 2013. Since its inception in 2011, the company has achieved rapid growth and has raised its profile with unconventional marketing methods. However, Lin, co-founder of the company, said Millet is now investing heavily in India, putting the region's third-largest economy at the heart of its overseas expansion. In addition to India, the company will enter more developing economies such as Brazil and Indonesia later this year. India is the largest overseas market we have entered, and it may also be our most important market besides China. He said. As China's overall smartphone growth slows, India's importance for international handset brands is growing, as its 650 million mobile subscribers will gradually upgrade their new models and eliminate traditional products with simpler features. According to IDC, the US market research firm, India has become the world's fastest-growing smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2013, and this year's sales are likely to be among the third in the world. Millet has also become the latest Chinese company to enter India, before this, Lenovo and ZTE and other Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have been involved in the market. The arrival of these companies will pose a serious challenge to Samsung. Although the latter is the world's largest expert machine manufacturers, but faced with the fierce price war launched by Chinese rivals, its profits have been eroded. Millet will also challenge India's local manufacturers such as Micromax, which have already achieved rapid growth through cheap OEM handsets imported from China. Millet will follow the Chinese market model, selling handsets to Indian consumers through online channels, rather than using traditional offline channels favoured by many handset makers. But in the Indian market, the company will work with the largest local E-commerce website Flipkart. Anshul Gupta, a Gartner analyst at the US market research firm, said Anchours Gupta could face serious challenges as India's market is already overcrowded and local consumers are sensitive to prices. It is not easy to please Indian consumers. How many people there know the correct pronunciation of Xiaomi? He said. However, India Telecom research andJayanth Kolla, an analyst at Convergence Catalyst, a consultancy, said that as India's smartphone market continued to grow, its unique operating system, low-cost online channels and similar religious brands would be welcomed in India. These factors have worked in the Chinese market, and if they can also play a role in the Indian market, it will really subvert the pattern ... Samsung and Micromax will be worried about their opponents ' arrival. Said Cora. Lin said Millet would invest in a design team in India to develop mobile internet services for Indian users, catering to their preference for Bollywood films and cricket, rather than making money by selling mobile phones. For us, the size of the user is crucial, and the profit earned by each handset is second. This, he says, is Google's growth model, selling devices to millions of users ... 582.66,-2.12,-0.36%. The sheer size of the Indian market is the place that really attracts us.