Focus on manpower to reignite production cycle: Realme India CEO
The most important aspect in the smartphone industry right now is shortage of manpower as most of the workers have gone home due to coronavirus pandemic and the delay in bringing them back to restart the entire production cycle will take some more time, Madhav Sheth, Vice President, realme and CEO, Realme India said on Monday.
By : migrator
Update: 2020-05-11 11:11 GMT
New Delhi
As per the government's guidelines, the company's Greater Noida facility has resumed operations with 25 per cent capacity.
"Amid the lockdown, manpower disruption was also seen. The migrant workers truckers and helpers have gone back to their hometowns. It will take 2-4 week to revamp the entire production cycle even after we received the permit to reopen our factory last week," Sheth told IANS on the sidelines of Realme Narzo series launch.
"We are aiming to open 25 per cent normal production so there might be some shortage of stocks in the upcoming month due to the surge in demand post lockdown relaxations and new product launches," informed Sheth.
Realme on Monday launched its much-awaited Narzo 10 and Narzo 10A smartphones in India via an online event. Realme Narzo 10A (3GB+32GB storage) is priced at Rs 8,499 and will be available from May 22 on realme.com and Flipkart. The device will be available at retail stores in select states from May 18.
Realme Narzo 10 will be available in 4GB+128GB variant for Rs 11,999. First online sale will start on May 18 via realme.com and Flipkart, and it will be available at the offline retail stores in select cities as well.
"We are aiming to meet sales targets and recover faster than others due to our strong presence on e-commerce, faster offline expansion and product advantages across mid-range and budget segments," said Sheth.
"We are expecting that there will be more demand for the budget to mid-range smartphones, as compared to those in the higher price segment, because people have lost income during the lockdown," Sheth told IANS.
"I always believe that there are two aspect of the smartphone industry. One is lifestyle and another is utility and right now, utility will take centre-stage while lifestyle will be a secondary option," said Sheth.
The company is also looking forward to expanding in smaller towns with more retail stores.
"In 2020, we will reach our customers based in tier-4 and 5 towns along with other cities, through more than 400 distributors who will cover 35,000 mobile stores pan India. We are aiming at a 40 per cent offline contribution to overall sales by the end of year," Sheth noted.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android