by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Finding Customers, Investing, Large Enterprise, Markets, SMEs, Technology, Venture Capital
New Delhi : Chinese smartphone maker Vivo on Thursday announced an additional investment of Rs 4,000 crore over a period of four years for opening a new manufacturing plant on the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh that will generate 5,000 jobs in its first phase of expansion.
The new 169-acre land has been acquired near the existing 50-acre manufacturing facility that will help expand Vivo’s manufacturing capabilities and support its continued growth in the country, the company said in a statement.
The Rs 4,000-crore investment, which does not include the cost of the land, will also spur job opportunities in the region, added Vivo that entered India in 2014.
“India is a key market for us, and today we have reiterated our commitment by entering the next phase of growth in India. We’re proud that the new plant will offer a major benefit to the surrounding area through high-quality job creation and training opportunities,” said Nipun Marya, Director-Brand Strategy, Vivo India.
According to the company, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the initiative and congratulated it.
Currently, all Vivo smartphones sold in the country are being manufactured at the Greater Noida facility, which is one of Vivo’s four manufacturing factories globally.
The existing manufacturing set-up, which saw an investment of Rs 300 crore, produces two million units a month, with more than 5,000 people at work.
With the new facility, Vivo aims to double the current production capacity to 50 million units per annum.
This is the second big-ticket investment from a global smartphone maker in Uttar Pradesh.
In 2017, Samsung announced that it would invest Rs 4,915 crore to double its manufacturing capacity for smartphones and refrigerators at its Noida plant.
The South Korean giant in July set up one of the world’s largest mobile manufacturing facilities in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
When it comes to Vivo, the company was third with 10 per cent market share in India, after Xiaomi and Samsung, in the third quarter this year. Vivo performed exceedingly well in offline channels, said Counterpoint Research.
Marya told IANS in a recent interview that in terms of value, Vivo is the leader in the Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 segment and overall No. 2 in the Indian smartphone market for the past 18 months.
According to him, the brand awareness of Vivo, which bagged the title sponsorship for five consecutive sessions of Indian Premier League (IPL) starting this year with a whopping Rs 2,199 crore bid, is 100 per cent.
There are currently more than 70,000 retailers in India where Vivo phones are available and the company has more than 200 exclusive stores and two experience centres.
“When we entered India, we were very clear that we wanted to build a very strong foundation here. And four years after entering the Indian market, we stay totally committed to the country,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, SMEs
New Delhi : Chinese smartphone maker Vivo on Wednesday said over a lakh users pre-booked its newly-launched Vivo “V11 Pro” from September 6-11 and it would contribute Rs 100 from each of these pre-orders towards Kerala flood relief fund.
“We received more than a lakh pre-bookings for the ‘V11 Pro’ that would translate into more than Rs one crore for the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund,” Nipun Marya, Director, Brand Strategy, Vivo India, said in a statement.
The company would also contribute Rs 50 from each Vivo handset (irrespective of model) sold in Kerala from August 22-September 22.
Vivo “V11 Pro” with in-display fingerprint technology, face-unlock feature and a curved 3D body was introduced in India for Rs 25,990.
The smartphone features a 6.4-inch super AMOLED Halo full view display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor.
The device sports 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage and runs Vivo’s proprietary Funtouch OS 4.5 based on Android 8.1 Oreo.
“V11 Pro” comes with a 12MP+5MP dual rear camera and a 25MP selfie camera with “Dual-Pixel Autofocus.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Investing, Markets, SMEs, Technology
By Gokul Bhagabati,
New Delhi : As the festive season inches closer in India, Vivo is focused on building brand loyalty and offering consumers innovative new “made in India” products across all price segments, a top company official said here on Tuesday.
The Chinese smartphone maker is set to launch another flagship smartphone Vivo V11 Pro on September 6.
“When it comes to the V series, Vivo has done very well. And with V11 Pro, we will take innovation to the next level in Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 segment,” Nipun Marya, Director, Brand Strategy, Vivo India, told IANS.
“To be successful in the long term, we must have great products. That is the reason why you see so many innovations from Vivo, whether it is the elevating camera in Vivo Nex or the in-display fingerprint scanner in X21,” he added.
According to Counterpoint Research, Vivo’s India market share in terms of shipment went down to 12 per cent in the second quarter of 2018 — from 13 per cent in the same quarter last year — while that of Xiaomi’s went up to 28 per cent from 16 per cent during the same period.
Marya, however, claimed that in terms of value, Vivo is the leader in the 20K to 30K segment and overall No. 2 in the Indian smartphone market for the past 18 months.
“We have more than 50 per cent market share in the 20K to 30K segment,” Marya said, adding that what has worked in its favour is that old Vivo customers have been upgrading to new Vivo phones.
“The Indian smartphone market is increasingly becoming a ‘replacement’ market, meaning an increasing number of customers are now second time or third time smartphone buyers,” Marya said, explaining the reasons behind Vivo India’s focus on building brand loyalty.
“Moreover, the average selling price (ASP) is increasing and consumers are becoming more aware – they know what brand they want to buy and what features are their priority, and accordingly they make their choice,” he added.
According to him, the brand awareness of Vivo, which bagged the title sponsorship for five consecutive sessions of Indian Premier League (IPL) starting this year with a whopping Rs 2,199 crore bid, is 100 per cent.
“When we entered India four years ago, our initial strategy was to build awareness for the brand and that is what we did. Now we are focusing on building consideration and preference for the brand,” Marya said.
“Today everybody knows about us. But the brand awareness has to be backed by great products, great after-sales services and a good retailer network as brand awareness alone can help a company survive for a maximum period of about two years,” the company executive noted.
Vivo has long term plans in India and all its investments in the country – be it in marketing or manufacturing – offer testimony to that.
“India is a very important market for us and all the investments we have made here are from a long term point of view. We have so far invested Rs 300 crore in the Greater Noida factory which has a capacity to assemble 2 million units per month and an SMT (surface-mount technology) capacity of 1.8 million per month,” Marya said, adding that all Vivo phones sold in India are now “made in India”.
“We are now looking at expanding our manufacturing capacity in the country to meet the increasing demand of our products,” he said without divulging further details.
There are currently more than 70,000 retailers in India where Vivo phones are available and the company has more than 200 exclusive stores and two experience centres.
The company has service centres in almost all parts of the country except in Manipur, Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu, Marya pointed out.
“When we entered into India, we were very clear that we wanted to build a very strong foundation here. And four years after entering the Indian market, we stay totally committed to the country,” he said.
(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, SMEs, Technology
Vivo X21
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury,
New Delhi : Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has focussed primarily on selfie-centric smartphones and is among the few players who are credited with starting the selfie-centric smartphone craze in India.
The effort has borne fruit and Vivo has been refreshing its smartphone line-up from time to time in the country.
However, this time around, it has come out of its comfort zone to introduce an innovation in its new Vivo X21 smartphone.
We are talking about the in-display fingerprint scanner embedded in the display — a feature that brands as big as Apple and Samsung have not introduced in their flagship devices.
Priced at Rs 35,990, the smartphone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB on-board storage that can be further expanded up to 256GB via a MicroSD card slot.
Here is what we think of the latest smartphone from Vivo.
The smartphone’s much-talked about USP — the in-display fingerprint sensor — which is similar to a camera sensor, sits comfortably around 0.68-mm below the AMOLED screen.
Unlike what we saw on the Honor 10, which uses Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication, the Vivo X21’s sensor is within the display and not under the cover glass.
The fingerprint scanner was accurate and fast and we could unlock the smartphone even with wet fingers.
Vivo X21 sports a glass sandwich design that does not look particularly striking.
However, it is a decent looking device with a design language that does not scream for attention.
The phone would appeal to those who are clearly not looking for a colour-shifting smartphone such as the Honor 10.
The frame of the device is made from metal while the rear is made of glass and fortunately is not a fingerprint magnet.
The smartphone has a 6.28-inch FHD+ display with Super AMOLED panel and 402 pixels per inch (PPI) display density.
The display was vivid with good amount of saturation with deep blacks and sunlight legibility and is protected by third generation Corning Gorilla Glass.
Vivo’s latest iteration comes with a “notch” — wherein the top of the display cuts into the screen to accommodate the earpiece, sensors and a 12MP front camera.
Photos shot with the device’s 12MP+5MP primary camera came out well and it was quick to focus while shooting in “auto mode”.
Selfies, however, seemed to be a little overexposed but that should not be a bummer.
Thanks to 6GB RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, the smartphone was fast and did not show any stutter or lag.
The smartphone is fuelled by a 3,200mAh battery that lasted a day on normal usage including browsing videos and running several social media apps.
The bundled charger was pretty fast and charged the smartphone from 0 to 50 per cent in half an hour.
What does not work?
The smartphone runs Vivo’s custom Funtouch OS 4 based on Android 8.1 Oreo which could put off some buyers.
A Micro-USB port in a smartphone that boasts of being the harbinger of futuristic technology such as an in-display fingerprint scanner is disappointing.
Conclusion: Vivo X21 is a good overall performer with a sturdy design. We would recommend the smartphone to those looking for a minimalistic design and want to flaunt the new in-display fingerprint sensor.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in)
—IANS
