Gionee avoids e-tail, will stick to brick & mortar retail

By Mayur Borah

SHENZHEN (China): Tie-ups between e-tailers and cellphone companies seem to be the order of the day but Chinese mobile maker Gionee is bucking the trend and says it doesn't have any arrangement with online shopping websites in India. “We want to go through the retail channels and reach the end-user. We don't want to lose our connect with the customer and our retailers,“ said William Lu, president of Gionee.

Gionee's India head Arvind Vohra said none of the websites selling Gionee phones in India are authorized to do so. “We have no tieup with any of these websites.Many e-tailers are selling phones at very low rates, which is hurting our brand and affecting the retailers.“

Vohra said these websites do not provide after sales service which is a key component. He added that Gionee sells its mobiles only through its e-store and registered distributors.

Earlier this year, Gionee had issued an advisory , warning customers against buying phones from e-commerce portals. It asked customers to check all warranty and service related details carefully if they decide to take the plunge.Lenovo and Dell have also issues similar advisories.

Lu also said Gionee is ready to manufacture in India but a right ecosystem must be ready before any development. He said robust policies by the new government could be the booster shot.

The Shenzhen-based company manufactured 30 million mobiles during the year and plans to come up with 45 million handsets in 2015.

(The correspondent was in Shenzhen by the invitation from Gionee)