Motorola to replicate India online success in South East Asia

BANGALORE: Mobile phone brand Motorola is hoping to replicate the success it has had with the web-only strategy in India in other markets like Indonesia.

Five months ago Motorola started selling its phones in India only through online retailer Flipkart. The site has sold one million Motorola phones across three models in that time, said Flipkart chief executive Sachin Bansal.

Last month the company started selling its Moto G phones in Indonesia only through online portal Lazada, backed by German investor Rocket Internet.

"We are leveraging lessons learnt here and applying it in Indonesia," said Magnus Ahlqvist, corporate vice president for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific at Motorola Mobility.

Ahlqvist said the company is now evaluating the online-only route in other markets in South East Asia.

The Motorola partnership has worked well for Flipkart as well. The cheapest Motorola phone, Moto E, is priced at Rs 6,999. That would mean Flipkart has sold at least Rs 700 crore worth Motorola products in just five months. Last fiscal Flipkart sold Rs 6,000 crore worth of goods.