HTC, the phone maker, will launch an add-on phone in the next few days.
A little longer than a business card, the sleek phone is connected to the mother phone remotely, allowing you to make or receive phone calls. Priced at Rs 7,500, HTC One Mini Plus works on One series phones.
“You can access phone book in the original phone and send text messages too. It helps save power on the mother phone. The maximum range is 10 metres,” Faisal Siddique, Country Manager of HTC India, said.
Addressing reporters here on Monday, he said the company would also launch ‘Fetch’, a phone locator. It is priced at Rs 2,500.
The company, which operates in the premium segment of phones (range starts at Rs 11,000), has a market share of 4-6 per cent in the smartphone segment.
“We are targeting a share of 15 per cent,” he said, without indicating a time frame.
Quoting industry surveys, Faisal Siddique said the smartphone market in India was growing at about 80 per cent. “It is expected to reach 25-26 million in 2013 from 18 million last year. Next year, it would be in the range of 35-45 million,” he said.
Asked about the growing competition from the local players in the lower end of the smartphone segment, he said the overall pie (market size) was growing.
On increasing the market share, he said the company added three distributors in the last six months, covering all geographies and retail chains. “We are planning to increase the presence to 7,000 outlets in the next six months from the present 3,000 outlets. The number of service points too would go up to 400 in the next six months from 250,” he said.