Asus Bets Big On Offline Channel For Smartphone Biz

Taiwanese IT hardware and smartphone maker Asus is heavily focusing on the offline distribution channel to expand its smartphone business in India. The online only brand till 2014, Asus is extensively building its offline distribution model since last two years to reach out to the emerging markets in the country.
Speaking exclusively with Channel Times, Billy Chen, Country Product Manager for Smartphones at Asus said that the company is expanding its offline presence in India.
“Two years ago we had only focused on online business, but now we are going offline. Though the online business is growing, the offline channel business is still the majority of the market. We cannot ignore this market, hence, we are expanding our offline presence in India”, Chen said.
ASUS, which is relatively a late entrant in the highly contested Indian smartphone market, is aiming to build a robust channel ecosystem to reach out to every length and breadth of the country. The company is also strengthening its presence in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns.
Rashi Peripherals, Compuage Infocom, F1 Info Solutions & Services Pvt Ltd and Regenersis are the four major distributors of Zenfone. The company claims to have over 30,000 channel partners in the country. Chen said that the company planning to hire more promoters to assist channel partners in product positioning.
“We offer our partners logistic support and in store decorations. We are also hiring more promoters to help our partners in their business. I will not say that we are shifting our focus from E Commerce but we are trying to keep a balance of both online and offline distribution model”, Chen said.
Asus aims to double its smartphone market share from the current 2.5 percent by 2016 in India. The company unveiled all-new ZenFone 3 family of smartphones — ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Deluxe, and ZenFone 3 Ultra in August. The newly launched smartphones will start at different price ranges.