Flipkart aims over 30% phone sales this festive season as it lines up new launches through handset partners

New Delhi: Flipkart aims to account for over 30 percent of the phone sales this festive season as it lines up new launches through handset partners and dishes out more financing options to woo Indian shoppers. The Walmart-backed company, which is locked in a fierce competition with US-based Amazon, claimed that about 25 percent of the total phones sold in the country are through its platform. “We are confident that we will be able to expand our leadership further and by the end of the festive sales (Big Billion Days or BBD), we should have 30-32 percent share,” Flipkart, Senior Director (Smartphones), Ayappan Rajagopal told PTI. The company had, in April, said it aims to touch 40 percent market share by 2020 as part of its ‘Mobiles 40by20’ strategy. [caption id=“attachment_5020961” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Flipkart logo. Reuters image.[/caption] “Our platform will have a number of new launches in alliance with our handset partners (during the festive sale). There will be devices across price points…we expect strong volumes coming especially in the Rs 10,000-15,000 category as well as the entry-level smartphones (Rs 4,000-7,000),” he said. The company is working with a number of brands, many of them exclusively, including the likes of Informix, Realme, Panasonic and Asus, he added. Rajagopal noted that as per industry reports, about 39 percent of the mobile phones sold in the country are through online platforms. “Online sales is about 39 percent in the country, which is the highest so far. It is also the highest globally for any country. In China, for example, about 29 percent phones are sold online,” he explained. Stating that its mobile phone vertical has been growing steadily, Rajagopal said the company has started offering EMI option for debit card holders to help more people transact on its platform. It is also with offerings like mobile protection services. Flipkart is yet to announce the dates of BBD, but the sale is likely to take place in October. Both Flipkart and Amazon India are betting big on mobile phones to drive growth. Mobile phones are one of the most popular items sold through e-commerce sites in the country. Over the last few years, a number of new handset companies, including the likes of HMD, Xiaomi, Motorola and CoolPad have partnered players like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to enter the Indian market.