An obscure smartphone
maker based in France has done what some feared was impossible following the
sale of Nokia’s handset business: created a successful European challenger to
tech giants Samsung and Apple.
Wiko is majority-owned by
Chinese technology group, Tinno Mobile and its phones are manufactured in
China. But that fact is lost on many of the French buyers who have catapulted
the brand into the top three handset vendors in the country, where it trades
off its local status and “French touch”. It has also become a popular brand in
Portugal and Italy.
Wiko has 8 per cent of
the French market, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, which measured
“triple-digit growth across Europe” for the brand in the past year.
The company has plans to
take the brand into countries where inroads have already been made by Chinese
manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE to bring down the price of smartphones.
It will start selling
handsets in the UK this autumn, according to David Garcia, head of
international development at Wiko, followed by parts of Africa such as the
Ivory Coast and Senegal, the Middle East and Asian countries such as Vietnam
and Thailand.
Wiko was established in
February 2011 by French businessman Laurent Dahan. Its head offi ce, design and
marketing teams are based in Marseille. Mr Garcia said the heart of the group
was in Europe, but there was considerable support from its Chinese partner.
“There is a European
brain and atmosphere that would not be possible if we were based in China,” he
said. “You need to be based in Europe to understand European needs.”
Even so, he admits that
making phones would not be possible in Europe. “You can think in Europe but you
have to make it somewhere else. You need your costs in China to stay
competitive.”
The success of Wiko will
at least provide some balance to the political hand wringing in Europe that
followed the sale of Nokia’s handset to Microsoft. The sale was seen as part of
a broader malaise in the European technology sector that has been outpaced by
the rapid growth of rivals from the US and Asia.
There are other handset
businesses in Europe, although these are generally more niche products such as
the double sided e-reader smartphone being made by Russia’s Yotaphone and
Vertu’s expensive luxury phones.
Wiko is competing with
cheaper Asian brands on their own turf, with a marketing campaign focused on
attracting younger customers and offering them equally low-priced devices. Wiko
shipped 26m devices overall in 2013, mostly dual-Sim Android smartphones, and
about 85 per cent of buyers were under 35 years old. “We are best for the
value, which was new for a European brand,” said Garcia.
Source:NationalMirror
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