Roll out plan of 250 franchise outlets by 2016

Please tell us in detail about the inception and growth of the brand?

After completing two successful years in India, Gionee aims to become a $1 billion company by end of FY 16. In 2013, the company has entered India and reported revenues of Rs 500 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 2,750 crore in 2014-15 from the domestic market, a growth of 550 per cent. Gionee also plans to invest 300cr in the next two to three years to set up a manufacturing plant in India. The brand is targeting a turnover of Rs 6,000 crore in the current fiscal as it has set a target to sell 40 million units globally by this year, as against 28 million last year. It also expects 8 million units to be shipped to India.

Elaborate about your products offering.

Gionee, Chinese manufacturer has inspired the industry with the launch of the GioneeElife S5.5 with its beautiful metal and glass construct and a slim figure of just 5.5 mm. Then, the brand has introduced theElife S5.1 and later the Elife S7, which had slimmer profiles with the thickness of just 5.1 mm, but were strong at the core. Along with stylish handsets, Gionee also gave the India market smart phones that were stellar in their own right. From GioneeElife E series, which redefined camera phones to the Marathon series that took the concept of huge battery to another level.

How are you going to maintain the equilibrium between the offline and online channels?

Gionee is now omnipresent and we have well planned channels both online and offline. We have a robust, well networked and sorted distribution channels, which has been driving impressive sales for us. We shall continue to follow the same model. Gionee partners with the leading retail players such as Spice, The Mobile Store, Mobiliti World, Jumbo Electronics, Croma Retail and Planet M to boost up our offline presence. The brand has also strategically chosen to tie-up with Snapdeal and Flipkart as the time was perfect for Gionee to take the online route and reach out to its consumers for premium handsets.

Tell us about Gionee work force?

At Gionee, every employee is allowed to take decisions or initiative without having the fear of failure making the organization an empowered organization. Currently, Gionee has 90 employees and this small team has remained intact and a part of a brand that is now a 3000cr company. Gionee has grown from strength to strength and we have 90 employees, who are on the payroll of the company adding to it some functions are completely outsourced. This year our employee strength will go up to 150 by year end.

How many offline stores and service centres will Gionee look at opening in the coming year?

As Gionee has partnered with the leading retail players; the handsets will be available across 1000 plus stores aiming to sell 35000 plus additional devices every month. Gionee has been rapidly expanding its footprint in India by opening brand stores and aims to open 250 brand stores by next year. The company also has 800 service centres up and running and aims to have 1000 by this year. Gionee plans to apply for a single-brand retail licence, following the easing of rules. We are in process of filing the application in the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) in coming weeks. Moreover, it plans to increase the number of franchisee outlets to 100 by March and 250 by December.

What is your roll out plans for future?

Gionee was among the first smart phone company to announce their ‘Make in India’ plans and has already associated with the world’s leading manufacturer Foxconn and Dixon to begin India production. Hence, the brand will be investing 50 million US$ in the next three years on manufacturing in India at the facilities of Dixon Technologies and Foxconn, which are based at Delhi-NCR and Andhra Pradesh respectively. Foxconn will start this association by manufacturing F Series and P Series phones from the existing Gionee Portfolio while Dixon will be making feature phones and other smart phones for Gionee in India. It will also increase the investment in R&D team in India, which will work on the software to give better consumer experience and will have a team to work on the Gionee UI, Amigo to make it much more customised for Indian consumers.