Anish Kapoor, CEO of Infinix India, told India Today Tech in an exclusive interview that the company plans to launch its first 5G smartphone in the country in January. Despite the current market challenges, Kapoor believes the first Infinix 5G phone could be priced under Rs 20,000. Infinix is a fast-growing smartphone brand in India, but its lineup is limited to only 4G devices. So far, the smartphone maker has focused on the budget smartphone category, but it now intends to expand its offerings.
“We are launching the first 5G phone in India by the end of January. Some customers are looking to buy a 5G phone when the technology hasn’t rolled out. We are looking to build a portfolio where customers can either get a 4G phone with top-notch specs or can opt for 5G. The cost of the latter is, of course, higher. Once the rollout happens, 5G devices will be more affordable,” Kapoor said.
While 5G phones have become increasingly popular in India, most businesses have sacrificed other features to promote connection that isn’t even available in the country. When comparing the value of a 5G and 4G phone at the same price, the latter easily outperforms the former. External concerns like global chip scarcity and rising component prices have also had an impact on the smartphone business.
“There are a lot of factors involved in deciding the price of a phone. It’s not just the component pricing, the dollar has appreciated by 8 percent in the last few months and that affects the overall pricing. Even then, we are aiming not to cross that Rs 20,000 price point,” Kapoor explained.
He went on to say that the company will focus on multiple series and that in the first half of 2022, it plans to launch five to six new phones in India, at least once per month.
“We saw a great response to our budget series in 2021. Now, we are looking to establish the Note series and the objective is to provide customers with features that they haven’t seen at that price point. We will also emphasize the Zero series. Overall, we plan to launch at least one smartphone every month and a total of five to six smartphones in the first half of 2022,” Kapoor said.
In a July interview with India Today Tech, Kapoor mentioned the company’s plans to launch a 55-inch smart TV in the country. The company had planned to launch this model in 2021, but it has now missed that deadline. However, premium TV is still expected to launch in the first half of next year.
“We launched the smart TVs around the same time last year and the response has been great. We planned to launch the 55-inch TV this year but missed the timeline. We are still working on it and hopefully, you will see it in the first quarter or early second quarter of next year,” Kapoor said.
Apart from smartphones and smart TVs, the company will continue to concentrate on laptops, which it has only recently entered. In India, the company recently launched the InBook X1 laptops and plans to expand this category in 2022.
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