Techno strengthens its presence in the Indian market

Dixon Technologies (India) Limited, is in initial talks to buy a majority stake in the local phone-making unit of China’s Transsion Holdings (Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co., Ltd.)

Tecno, owned by the Shenzhen-headquartered Transsion Holdings, the world’s fifth-largest smartphone company, has been elbowing for room at the smartphone high table in India.

Over the past year, Transsion has emerged as a contender in the competitive Indian market — where other Chinese heavyweights have been fiercely battling for nearly a decade. Besides Tecno, Transsion sells smartphones in India under its Itel and Infinix brands — some of the Itel phones are iPhone lookalikes.

Transsion, which also leads smartphone sales in other South Asian countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, has doubled down on launching more affordable but sleek devices in India over the past year. It has also ramped up marketing and hired top Bollywood celebrities to endorse its brands.

In 2023, Transsion hired Deepika Padukone and Hrithik Roshan, as brand ambassadors for Tecno and Itel, respectively. The company also dedicated resources to rebranding at least one Delhi Metro station, now named “Laxmi Nagar Tecno,” and placed multiple billboards of Padukone promoting the Tecno Camon 20 in the vicinity.

The strategy seems to be paying off already. Transsion’s profits in India nearly doubled year-on-year in the 2023 financial year to Rs 210 crore, according to data sourced from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Last year, the company also gained 8.6% of the Indian smartphone market, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research.

Transsion’s focus on smaller towns and cities has been a key ingredient for its success in India.

CT Bureau