Nokia Partners Flipkart To Launch Smart TVs

Indian e-commerce giant, Flipkart, has announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Nokia that grants it the use of the Nokia brand for Smart TVs in India – a global first for the brand in the TV category. Flipkart will leverage its understanding of the needs of Indian consumers to develop, facilitate manufacturing and distribution of the Nokia branded Smart TVs, while managing end-to-end go-to-market strategy. Flipkart will focus on domestic manufacturing and also on end-to-end sales of the Nokia branded Smart TVs to help create thousands of new jobs.

Commenting on the partnership, Adarsh Menon, senior V-P and head-private brands, electronics and furniture at Flipkart, said: “working with Nokia allows us to further expand the choice of high-quality, technologically advanced products for Indian consumers. Nokia is a globally popular technology brand and enjoys immense brand recall, so we’re excited to start this journey with them to extend the brand into a fast-growing product segment. We are committed, as always, to bringing best of brands and technology together as we work towards welcoming the next 200 million consumers on our platform.”

According to Flipkart, digitally-influenced shoppers are set to significantly drive up demand for consumer durables in India over the next five years. Flipkart is leveraging the increasing prevalence of online shopping in metros, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, combined with vast amount of consumer insights and feedback, to strengthen its presence in this segment.

“Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the Nokia brand in a new category. Flipkart’s understanding of the needs and behaviors of Indian consumers, and the power of its reach, will help it make Nokia branded Smart TVs accessible and affordable to many,” said Vipul Mehrotra, V-P, Nokia Brand Partnerships.

The Nokia branded Smart TVs will feature superior audio quality powered by JBL’s sound programme, an initiative by HARMAN to expand the uses of its audio expertise further. This will be JBL HARMAN’s first foray into the television space in India.

“With our trajectory of having prior successful collaborations all over the world, we have no doubt that consumers will be able to enjoy a TV with sound that truly pulls them in with immersive experience. That is the JBL sound promise, and we are looking forward to seeing how this will impact the TV market with a strong feature differentiator,” said Pradeep Chaudhry, country manager-HARMAN India.―Financial Express