PCH Enters the Mobile Handset Business
December 15, 2010 11:36 pm
Cashing in on a vibrant mobile phone market, PC House PLC (PCH) will soon be partnering one of India’s fastest growing mobile phone brands, Karbonn. Given its island-wide reach via an excellent distribution network, PCH believes it has the opportunity to market this brand at attractive price points.
Mr. S.H.M. Rishan, Chairman of PCH says, “We are in the process of planning a viable distribution network along with an attractive range of handsets with multiple features at competitive prices in order to successfully penetrate the local mobile phone market. Strong marketing and branding initiatives together with a service network matched to fight the big players are planned. In order to do this, PCH and Karbonn have earmarked a significant investment for the current financial year. The idea is to gain a significant market share in the next two years, similar to what PCH enjoys with all our other partners.”
Sri Lanka’s mobile subscribers grew to 15.86 million in the second quarter of 2010 up from 11.49 million a year earlier. The market is growing at around 20% to 25%, and there is room for Indian brands who offer the design and feel of the big brands within a price range of Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 14,000. Whilst inferior phone models with dual SIM options have been popularized in Sri Lanka lately, PCH is responding to huge customer demand for dual SIM phones backed by a proper warranty.
Dual SIM phones are gaining popularity in the rural market, which is the next frontier for mobile telephony, due to better connectivity at an affordable price. For the upper end of the market, this capability has numerous attractions, such as having different numbers for different purposes, and for use when overseas, where a local SIM can take care of outgoing calls and the roaming capability of the other SIM could be used for receiving calls.
Karbonn Mobiles is a joint venture between Delhi-based Jaina Group and Bangalore-based UTL Group. Jaina Group started out as a distributor of mobile handsets around 15 years ago. Though it now has its own brand in the market place, it is also the distributor of HTC in not just India but the whole of South Asia, and of Motorola and LG in India. Having launched in India last April, Karbonn now sells between 500,000 and 600,000 handsets per month. This might be small in the Indian market for mobile phones which is estimated at 100 million per annum, but it is not insignificant. In the lucrative multimedia segment of the market, the brand hopes to capture 7 to 10 per cent share before it completes one year.
About PCH: PCH is the new corporate brand identity for PC House PLC which was recently listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The new brand identity reflects the change from a family owned business to a public company with a vision to be the benchmark for ICT in Sri Lanka.
PC House was incorporated as a limited liability company in the year 2000, after having commenced business in 1997 and became PCH PLC. Its Board of Directors consists of Messrs S.H.M. Rishan, Mangala Boyagoda, Sarath Wikramanayake, Modarage Thilakasiri, Shanti Kumar Nadarajah, Kuvera de Zoysa and Mrs. Sharmila Rishan.
Photo caption: Mr. Failan Saleem (left) COO - PCH Mobile and Mr. S.H.M. Rishan, Chairman - PC House PLC displaying the new Karbonn mobile phones