July 10, 2014: Motorola which has an exclusive distribution network with e-tailer Flipkart has sold a million plus smartphone handsets in the first five month of its sales in India. India has been a growing segment for smartphones and according to research firm IDC, vendors shipped 17.59 million smartphones in the first quarter. Motorala achieved this feat in its second innings in India making it the top five mobile brands in the country.
According to Sachin Bansal, Founder & CEO, Flipkart, “We believe these sales figures should put Motorola among the top five mobile brands in the country.” He also said, “Only by selling online and only by selling with one player, a player like Motorola is able to become one of the top five mobile brands in the country.” He further added, “Five years ago this would have been science fiction. Today it’s a reality and we believe that’s a trend that would continue for a long time.”
Speaking about having a single distribution network Magnus Ahlqvist, Corporate VP, Emea & Apac, Motorola Mobility, was quoted as saying “the company’s performance was nothing but phenomenal.” He added, “It proves that the business model that we chose was a really strong one. I don’t think we have achieved anything similar elsewhere.” For Motorola which launched three models in India Moto E, Moto G and Moto X India was the first market where the company entered into an exclusive tie-up with an e-commerce player.
Motorola would be continuing the online route and the company as per sources don’t have immediate plans to take to the offline retail route. The company is planning to strengthen its partnership with Flipkart and would be launching more products in the future. Other hand set makers like Celkon have also started taking the similar route like Motorola and have tied up exclusively with online market place Snapdeal.com.
