itel eyes stronger presence of its smartphone products in Cebu, VisMin areas

From left, Star Luo, itel Philippines sales manager, and Rachel Wei, head of itel Southeast Asia, show one of their smartphone models. CDN Digital photo | Irene R. Sino Cruz

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The competition in the budget phone market in Cebu is expected to be tighter when itel Mobile Philippines implements its aggressive marketing strategy here.

itel, an emerging smartphone brand in the Philippines, banks on its very affordable pricing and after sales commitment to enable them to capture a larger share of the P4,000 smartphone market.

Company officials made this statement during the company’s anniversary celebration held at a Lapu-Lapu City resort last Saturday, January 11, 2020. 

itel, a global mobile brand, aims to strengthen its presence Cebu and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao, said Lei Zhang, iTel Philippines country manager. 

Zhang said the company sees huge potential in these areas, noting that the sales of local brands in the under P4,000 market has been declining.

Zhang said itel could get a bigger share of the market because of the plus points of their smartphones.

He pointed at the very affordable pricing and quality materials of their smartphones, which would enable their products get a bigger market share.

At present, itel’s share in the P4,000 market segment is around 10 percent nationwide.

Zhang disclosed that they sold one million phones in 2019.

This year, itel targets two-million units sales, according to Rachel Wei, head of itel Southeast Asia.

Wei explained that they could offer more affordable prices for their products because of the higher sales volume.

itel is present in around 50 emerging markets globally.

In India alone, Zhang said they sold millions of units each month.

He also stressed that no other company any  could beat their after sales commitment. itel offers 100 days replacement for their smartphones units.

In contrast, most smartphone companies only offer 7-day replacement.

Zhang said they only have one percent return rate of their products.

This year, itel would be more competitive in the smartphone market since they would be launching new models with very attractive specifications.

One of the new models they will be offering is a smartphone with a pop-up camera.

Aside from smartphones, itel also carries feature phones, getting around 8.5 percent market share in the Philippines.

Wei said that they would continue to offer feature phones to serve those who can’t afford smartphones.

The company also intends to come up with slimmer and more fashionable looking feature phones so they could increase their market share.

Aerophone is the authorized distributor for itel phones in the Visayas.

The company now has around 500 dealers in the Visayas, according Star Lou, itel Philippines sales manager. /bmjo