Motorola has been focusing on making affordable devices, even their flagship models cost less than smartphones with similar specs. This strategy is more relevant in emerging markets like India, which is one of the fastest growing markets for smartphones. The company announced that they started making their most affordable phone, the Moto E with 4G connectivity, in that country as it is one of their most popular offerings in that region. Possibly the new versions of the Moto G and the Moto X will be made in that plant too. Now, a report mentions a change in the strategy in the way their smartphones are sold in that country, which is currently based on selling them through online retailers.
The phones are sold exclusively on Flipkart, and it worked for a while, as the company gained some market share, but as some Chinese manufacturers started adopting a similar strategy sales for Motorola started declining. The new strategy will consist of selling the phones on physical stores as apparently, most of the users still buy their phones in brick-and-mortar stores. Still, the online store will remain to be an important part of the strategy, possibly because of the color options offered in the company’s Moto Maker. Xiaomi announced that they would also sell their phones on retail stores in this country earlier this month. These stores could end up offering attractive designs to showcase the phones and the chance to try a product before making a purchase is always alluring, plus there’s the possibility of asking all sorts of questions to the people who work there.
Lenovo, which currently owns Motorola has succeeded in selling their PC equipment on retail stores for that market, so they are taking a similar approach with the Motorola brand. While Lenovo also makes smartphones, those will be marketed as more affordable devices, making the Motorola phones the premium options. Lenovo also owns Zuk, which is an online-only smartphone brand that is commercialized in China, but the company is considering on bringing it to India as well, it depends on how successful it turns in China.