Huawei SL to surpass 50% market share next year
Huawei Sri Lanka is gearing to grow its market share by 30 per cent this financial year in a bid to achieve 53 per cent in total, a top official said.
“In Q4, 2015, the market share was 23.08 per cent in smarphones. It was our first time to achieve this and we’re at number 2 in this segment. This year, we want to grow by 30 per cent,” Henry Liu, Country Head – Huawei Device Sri Lanka told the Business Tims. This is the company’s third year in Sri Lanka. Mr. Liu responsible for the Huawei smartphone segment of the local operations and under whose purview the Huawei Consumer Business Group in Sri Lanka was set up in 2012 said they are targeting Rs. 10 billion as the sales and revenue target from Sri Lanka this year.
“This year all the phones which we bring down will be 4G LTE (a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones),” Mr. Liu said. According to him, for those who upload a lot of data – posting photos or videos, for instance – you’ll find LTE’s upload speeds are far better. “With 4G LTE, using the web from your phone is just like using it from your home computer. For 4G LTE to work, all you need is a smartphone that’s configured to work with it.” He said that 4G LTE allows more applications to be used on mobile phones out of the home or office, faster or real-time sharing of large files and streaming media and immediate delivery of time-sensitive data, such as for real-time interaction or transactions.
He added that Huawei is targeting local consumers who have already used phones or those who want to upgrade their feature phones whose functionality and support for third-party software are still relatively limited in comparison to smartphones that have advanced mobile operating system which combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use. He said that this is because to use a smartphone, one must be smart/savvy in having used a mobile before. “It’s easier to get used to using a smartphone if you are familiar with a feature phone. He said that some 80 per cent of mobiles in the market are feature phones. “So there’s a lot of potential to sell smartphones.” Mr. Liu added that research has shown that Sri Lankans prefer quality over price. “It’s their number one priority when purchasing a mobile phone whereas in India it’s the price.”