Updated: September 23, 2020 5:45:05 pm
Little X3 launched at a starting price of Rs 16,999
Poco, which is now an independent brand under Xiaomi, has a lot to prove before it can compete with companies like Realme and Oppo. Ahead of the launch of Poco X3, the brand’s latest smartphone in India, we spoke with Anuj Sharma, the former Xiaomi CMO who now runs Poco India. Sharma spoke candidly about creating a space for a new brand in the crowded market, price wars and much more. Edited excerpts below:
High competition makes even the most successful brands stand out as a challenge, especially in a market like India. What is your strategy to face the competition?
Anuj Sharma: Basically, it sticks to the core philosophy. Simply holding onto that core philosophy as we go through about two years is harder than it sounds. And many brands have wavered from where they started, but Poco hasn’t, and hence the everything you need and nothing you don’t need philosophy continues. So it’s about simplicity and it’s about reaching the smartest consumers and giving them the best we can. In a way, yeah, it sounds very simple and the question everyone would have is, why can’t everyone do it? Well, because sometimes simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve.
If you look at the Indian smartphone market, you will already find many brands competing with each other. Where is the space for another smartphone brand like Poco?
Anuj Sharma: Since 2012, I have been associated with the Indian smartphone industry. I’ve heard that the feature enhancement market used to be a lot more chaotic. From a smartphone perspective, I think we have the fewest brands today that we’ve ever had. I remember in 2013, there used to be 40-50 well-known brands, which gave people enough options and options. But since 2017, we have seen a steady decline in which the number of brands that have come out or accumulated has been much more than the new ones. The number of new brands that have emerged, you can now literally count on your fingers.
People want options. When brands get big enough, they try to cater to the lowest common denominator or the masses. And this gives us a perfect opportunity to basically defend something else and make a mark.
Poco X3’s first sale is scheduled for September 29
Poco is now an independent company with its own team and resources. How much do you depend on Xiaomi?
Anuj Sharma: We still rely heavily on the R&D team of the global Xiaomi group. I will be very honest, in today’s world to come up to the negotiating table for certain key components you need purchasing power. And that’s probably one of the reasons why not many new brands emerge. Frankly, if you’re not looking at tens of millions of devices, most of the key vendors likely won’t even entertain you. And this is where obviously all that Xiaomi group supply chain and acquisitions definitely helps us. The second is the MIUI.
Brands often try to create a halo effect around popular products on a broader level. Now that the Poco X3 is on the market, how are you positioning the product in the market?
Anuj Sharma: What we have learned from the time of the Poco F1 to the Poco X3 is that when the price of the F1 exceeded 20,000 rupees, it alienated a large part of that crowd. Now, of course, with an extended portfolio, we hope to reach many more “tech enthusiasts” and still not reach out to bargain hunters, or someone who generally only searches for smartphones. We want people to be passionate about devices.
In today’s smartphone market, how difficult is it for a new brand like Poco to avoid price wars?
Anuj Sharma: Actually, it depends on how we look at this. Of course, when you are looking for expansion and looking for volumes, you are tempted to lower the price and sell more. But on the other hand, the products that we are creating and who we want to reach make it quite easy for us to maintain that particular price. Pricing for the Poco X3, frankly, had been decided by the team almost three months ago, and there have been no changes regardless of what’s going on in the market. And that’s probably the advantage of a small player.
We are not testing millions of X3s, we just want to reach out to the main audience and make sure they are extremely satisfied with the product. In that case, that audience isn’t necessarily looking for the cheapest device out there. They are looking for the best device that suits their needs. By having that narrow focus, I think it’s easier for us not to get into the cheaper price than yours.
Poco X3 is an interesting smartphone from a hardware perspective, after all it has a 120Hz display and a Snapdragon 732G processor. But it’s not the flagship smartphone we’ve all been waiting for. So where is the flagship?
Anuj Sharma: No, we have not stopped offering people an emblematic experience and an emblematic experience will continue to be in the vein of Poco. I don’t think we’ll ever like a flagship phone with all the bells and whistles. I don’t think we are going in that direction, it will still have to be a very focused device for Indian audiences.
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