Poco aims for 60% business growth in 2023 and moves to 5G phones to drive growth: Himanshu Tandon

Smartphone company Poco expects the shift to 5G mobile phones from 4G, combined with a pricing and design strategy, will boost the company’s business by 60 percent this year, a senior company official said. Poco India head Himanshu Tandon told PTI that the sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone segment is likely to be hardest hit by inflationary pressures and the depreciation of the rupee, and the industry will face strong competition in the Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 mobile phone segment. rupees.

“I think the area of ​​opportunity for market growth is basically the transition from 4G to 5G. People moving from 4G to 5G smartphones is one of the biggest factors that can basically drive the growth of the entire smartphone industry,” he said.

Tandon said Poco’s strategy in 2023 will be to keep a compact portfolio focused on performance and design of smartphones at aggressively priced phones.

The company plans to launch its Poco X5 Pro 5G smartphone next month with Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor, priced between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000.

“I think the sub-Rs 10,000 segment has suffered more due to inflationary pressures and the depreciation of the rupee. But at the same time, we see opportunities in the Rs 20,000-30,000 segment. This is the segment where real innovation takes place. right now. This year we will see some serious competition in this price range,” Tandon said.

He said that the company will also start selling smartphones through retail stores this year to boost sales.

“I think that in the next few weeks you will see that we will go offline. This year we are diversifying from online to offline. The industry can grow in the range of 5-10 percent, but we set ourselves an ambitious goal of 60 percent growth. 60 percent is the base growth target we are taking for 2023,” Tandon said.

The company will also increase its annual manufacturing capacity in India by about 30,000 smartphones this year, he said.

Poco currently manufactures mobile phones through contract electronics manufacturers.