Come October and mobile phone-makers usually start offering huge discounts and freebies to cash in on the festive shoppers.
But this year not many brands are planning to give any significant offers as they are still reeling under the impact of rupee depreciation.
Apart from launching some new models and giving token gifts, phone makers including Samsung Electronics India, LG India, Lava International and Maxx Mobile said that they cannot give major discounts because their margins have been bit due to costlier imports.
No discounts
Manasi Yadav, Senior Analyst – Phones and Tablets at IDC India, said, “Consumers should not expect much discounts this year from manufacturers as well as retailers because of the rupee factor.”
Phone companies, therefore, are focusing more on sweetening the deal for buyers by bringing in cheaper devices.
“As part of our festive season offer, we have launched a range of smartphones priced between Rs 5,500 and Rs 16,000 that are equipped with the latest features normally found in high-priced smartphones,” Sudhin Mathur, Director, Smartphones, Lenovo India, told Business Line.
Others are bundling free gifts hoping that it would attract users. LG India, for example, is giving a ‘Quick cover’ worth Rs 2,999 as a launch offer with LG G2 (priced at Rs 41,500 for the 16GB version). Sony India is also bundling a carrying case worth Rs 2,990 with Xperia Z1 (priced at Rs 44,990).
“We also bundle a Sony USB charger, worth Rs 2,790, to help customers maintain their phone’s battery even while on the move. There is also accidental damage protection on some Xperia models,” Sunil Nayyar, Head Sales, Sony India, said.
Local vendor, Maxx Mobile, that sells smartphones at a price range of Rs 3,100-12,000, said it will give Rs 500 discount coupon through its Facebook fan page. The offer will kick off from next week and winners of its games (application) on its Facebook page will get these coupons to get the discount on its products, Krishna Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Maxx Mobile, said. It also has an offer in which a customer can get a wrist watch worth around Rs 2,000 on purchase of two mobile phones worth Rs 1,600 each, Singh added.
Blackberry cuts
This is a far cry from previous years when phone brands would drop prices by 30-40 per cent during October-November. So far only Blackberry has announced an offer for its flagship Z10 model which is being given away at Rs 29,990 compared to the actual price of Rs 41,100.
But market watchers say that the Blackberry move could be aimed at clearing the stock than a festive season offer because the Canadian company has not been able to find too many buyers for this model after a mega global launch.
Notwithstanding the lack of real discounts, phone companies are still expecting to improve sales during the festive season.
“Generally sales in festive season are good, we are expecting 30-50 per cent growth this year compared to last year,” Singh of Maxx Mobile said.
Demand may rise
Analysts said that the phone makers’ optimism is fair given that there is pent up demand in the market as many consumers had postponed their buying decision over the last two months because of increase in prices.
“Sales during September were not good because of the rupee devaluation and the following increase in prices. However, the festive season may bring better numbers in the coming quarter,” said IDC’s Manasi. The only saving grace for consumers this festive season is that the rupee has shown signs of bouncing back, which means that the phone makers won’t have to hike prices any further.
>ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in
This is the fourth part of a series on festival season in the time of slowdown.