With 5G, a new decade of mobile innovation will begin: Gagan Arora, Director, Marketing, IQOO India – The Financial Express

Meet iQOO (pronounced i-koo), the latest entrant in the hyper competitive Indian smartphone market. Its first flagship smartphone, iQOO 3, is a judicious blend of high-end hardware and software; it is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor and boasts of 5G capabilities. “We have a strong focus on the premium smartphone segment and our new offering will address the needs of today’s data and performance-hungry generation,” Gagan Arora, director – marketing, iQOO, tells Sudhir Chowdhary in a recent interview. Excerpts:

How will you differentiate yourself in India’s crowded smartphone market?

Personally, I believe it is still an underpopulated market for choices. If you see the entire smartphone market, it is growing at 10% and if you see the premium smartphone market it is growing at almost 65%. Needless to say, the market is growing pretty well.

How do we differentiate ourselves from others? I will attribute this to our ability to offer highly personalised, cutting-edge and innovative solutions. With iQOO 3, we have introduced the industry’s latest innovations such as 5G-enabled Snapdragon 865 processor for tech-savvy buyers. Coupled with 4440mAh battery with best in segment 55W Super FlashCharge, this device will appeal to our consumers with its sleek design, stunning colours and power-packed features.

As a new entrant, we want to create value and build aspiration among the consumers. Hence, we have introduced iQOO 3 in Volcano Orange colour (in addition to Quantum Silver and Tornado Black variants). Orange is going to appeal to the young generation.

iQOO stands for “I quest on and on” under which the experience matters. We first worked on creating the experience, then the product and finally the philosophy and that is how the brand came into being.

Don’t you think the pricing is too steep for millennials?

Based on our market research we found that there is a section of millennials who have a strong preference for performance and experience and they can afford it as well. Millennials are a huge buying section; some section of this population will opt for budget phones, but a significant chunk will go for the premium segment and that is the segment we are catering to.

Our philosophy is that you cannot be everywhere, hence we are not going to jump into every price segment. We are not going to be volume driven. With iQOO 3, we are looking at selling close to a million units, you can also expect more launches from the brand.

What is your go-to-market strategy for India?

On the marketing side, we have just tied-up with Virat Kohli as our brand ambassador. On the distribution front, we have collaborated with Flipkart, however we will be going offline as well. We have a strong focus on customer service as well; as part of our iQOO Care facility, we have a free pick-up and drop service and the customer does not have to stand in a queue. These services can be availed by consumers across the country. We have a network of our reliable partners who adhere to our quality standards of services. These services are divided into two parts—iQOO Care and Repair and available pan-India.

Get live Stock Prices from BSE and NSE and latest NAV, portfolio of Mutual Funds, calculate your tax by Income Tax Calculator, know market’s Top Gainers, Top Losers & Best Equity Funds. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.