Gionee is expected to launch a wide range of new smartphones with 18:9 aspect ratio in India on April 26. The company has mailed media invites for the launch of the new devices even though there are reports of restructuring. Upon inspection of the launch invite, the upcoming handsets will have very thin bezels on both left and right sides.
Addition of bezel-less display
The key highlight of the new smartphones will be the integration of Full View Display with 18:9 aspect ratio, which will identical to that of Samsung Galaxy S9 series. According to reports, the handsets will cost between INR 9000 to INR 15000.
Refusing media reports, the company sources revealed that the company in India will stay despite financial hurdles in China. David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee India added that the company is currently in a restructuring mode and also refuted media reports that the company is facing a financial crunch.
There were reports in Chinese media that the company has to pay a huge amount for suppliers in China. The company is excited to be here in India and will continue to stay. The company is planning to adopt a new business model approach to combat competition and to increase the overall market share from the existing 2.2 percent.
With over 40000+ stores in India, Gionee has over 600+ service centers in India. The company claims that the overall customer base is around 1.25 crore. Gionee is also planning to push sports sponsorship including the ongoing IPL.
Heavy competition
Gionee is facing troubles because of the acute competition from competitors such as Xiaomi. Nowadays, customers buy smartphones from those manufacturers who push in regular updates. If you look at Xiaomi, the company offers regular updates of its award-winning MIUI user interface.
Regular updates – A criteria
Recently, the Lei Jun owned company rolled out updates even for devices that are four years old. We updated our first generation Redmi Note with the latest version of MIUI 9, which improved performances and call connectivity.
The rollout of updates for the older device has motivated customers to purchase Xiaomi and Mi branded devices. However, there are cases where the company abandon the smartphones but continue to provide updates. The discontinuation of Mi A1 is a classic example.
Talking about Gionee, the smartphones manufactured by the company were never popular. The company used to encourage bloggers and YouTubers to publish positive reviews in return for gifts and devices. However, the real customers who purchase products using their hard earned money have fallen on to the trap.
While bloggers continue to enjoy freebies, customers who invested money face problems like lack of service, Android updates and much more. The curious case of LeEco was an example which customers in India should be aware of. We have two LeEco devices and the phone never received any updates over the last one year and we are not expecting any updates in future as well. The bloggers who review smartphones should also study the background and financial status of companies.
We still remember how tech enthusiasts and Youtubers got media invites and the way the company conducted launch events. The LED TVs they sold vanished like a bird throwing customers into a panic-like situation. If you had purchase LeEco Super TV and the panel failed, you have no other option other than to throw it on the dustbin.