Reacting to an IANS report that financial woes in China may hit Gionee's India operations, David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee India, said that the brand is here to stay.
"We are in the process of restructuring our India team and executing a completely different business model for the brand in the market very soon," Chang told IANS.
Sources told IANS on Friday the company may scale down its operations in India and introduce a different business model to ramp up growth.
"We are equally excited about our presence in the Indian market and would like to assure all Gionee lovers that the brand is here to stay," Chang added.
The company had 2.2 percent share in the Indian smartphone market for 2017, according to Counterpoint Research.
After Chinese smartphone maker LeEco closed the curtains, experts believe it's time for Gionee to end its journey. In other words, the mid-range smartphone maker reportedly has been facing gigantic issues with finances in China and reports suggest that its Indian operations might also be effected.
Chinese media reported in January that a local court has frozen 41.4 percent stake of Gionee Chairman and Chief Executive Liu Li Rong for two years.
The company is also reportedly facing financial woes in paying its suppliers, reported Nikkei Asian Review in mid-January. In a statement, Gionee told the paper that the case was still in the judicial process and that the company would resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, China, the world’s largest shipper of smartphones, witnessed its first-ever decline in 2017 as device shipments fell 4 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to reach 459 million units, reported Singapore-based market research firm Canalys.
Back at home, Gionee India’s CEO and Managing Director Arvind Vohra stepped down last August after being designated for five years.
However, Vohra still continues in the firm at the position of Executive Director.
Gionee, which established its presence in India in 2012, claims to have retail presence in over 42,000 stores and has 600 exclusive service centres in the country.
If services get impacted, its customer base of 1.25 crore in the country would be facing problems.
Gionee was among one of the first Chinese brands to enter the Indian smartphone market but was unable to make the transition in the fast-changing environment. Although the company had quality product line-up, it lacked a solid go-to-market strategy,” Shobhit Srivastava, Research Analyst, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems at Counterpoint Research, told news agency IANS.
“The company was also slow in launching new products when other Chinese brands were flooding the market with new launches almost every quarter,” he added.
