BANGALORE: Motorola Mobility says the ramp up of Moto G sales in India was one of the fastest in the world.
"Our initial plan was aggressive, but what actually happened blew out all our expectations. Moto G has been a phenomenal success for us in India," the company's head of Europe, Apac, Middle East & Africa, Magnus Ahlqvist, told TOI on a visit to Bangalore on Wednesday.
He declined to state specific sales figures. Asked if Moto G customers were mostly those who would otherwise have bought Indian brands like Micromax or Karbonn, Ahlqvist said he was yet to do any detailed analysis, but anecdotal evidence suggested that most customers were coming from other international brands. "Lot of people are saying they were thinking of buying a Rs 20,000 phone, but found in Moto G a better phone at a lower price (it's sold between Rs 12,500 and Rs 14,000). Globally too, it's mostly Apple and Samsung customers who are moving to us," he said.
Moto G was launched globally in November last year, and was introduced in India in early February. It was Motorola Mobility's first phone after the transformation it underwent after it was acquired by Google (Google recently sold it to Lenovo, but that transaction is yet to be approved by regulatory authorities in different regions).
Ahlqvist attributed Moto G's success to Motorola focusing on giving a "clean Android experience" and a focus on what "really, really matters to customers". He said customers want great display, a good build, great design, and they don't want to be stranded in terms of software one year down. "We did not clutter Android with a lot of things on top of it, and we provided all of these things that customers want at a great price point," he said.
Asked about customer disappointment with the low resolution (5MP) rear camera, Ahlqvist said the company had to do some balancing (in order to meet the price point). "But we are looking at feedback, looking at how we can improve the product. We are constantly putting out improvements to specific apps; we are not waiting for the next major maintenance release. Since launch we have already made some 30-35 improvements, including a slide bar in gallery display," he said.
He noted that there were some 9,800 reviews on Flipkart (the sole seller of Motorola Mobility products in India) and the average rating was about 4.6 (on 5). "The complaints are mostly about there not being enough stock," he said.
Ahlqvist said the decision to go solely with an ecommerce player to sell its phones also proved to be hugely successful, and there was no plan to change that model in the foreseeable future. "We were doing this for the first time in the world (to go with a single seller and that too an online seller). Even for Flipkart it was a big decision, as they were also doing it for the first time. We had no idea it would become so successful," he said.
Flipkart enabled Motorola to quickly reach remote locations in India. And where customers complained that Flipkart was not serving them in certain locations, Flipkart expanded to those areas. "The customers in India are really educated and well informed. They are paying attention to what Amazon customers are saying in other countries, what bloggers around the world are saying," he said.
Asked if he anticipated any changes following Lenovo's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, he said he believed Lenovo would retain it as a separate brand and take forward the essence of the changes brought under Google, which was to reduce complexity, have fewer products, but ensure those products make a real difference. "Lenovo can drive scale and global presence. Smartphone manufacturing will require PC manufacturing like capabilities in future, and that's a strength Lenovo will bring," he said.
Asked about the Moto X, a higher end smartphone that has just been launched at Rs 24,000, Ahlqvist said the initial feedback has been very positive. "We have combined simplicity with some great functionality. For instance, you can do a lot of operations without touching the phone, by simply speaking out," he said
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Dipali Goenka is one of those who walked the rare path of getting married and raising children before making a career debut. She was 32 years old and a mother of two daughters, then aged 10 and 7, when she decided to step out from her cushioned living room and into the competitive board room.
It wasn’t easy for Goenka, even though she was the wife of the $4-billion Welspun Group’s chairman. Her husband had told her, “This can’t be a hobby as business will be at stake. You will have to show what you can do and prove your worth.”
A determined Goenka started from scratch, handling various roles in different departments from purchase to HR to design and worked her way up. Today, the 44-year-old heads the group’s home textile business.
“Women should work. They should go beyond clothes, bags and jewellery,” says Goenka, adding, “Working empowers you, it makes you confident and in charge of yourself.”
She says that work helps women understand their partners’ professional commitments and hence build an “evolved” relationship, keeping them on a par.
Nothing in life, however, comes free. Even as she juggled with the new routine, trying to take time out for her girls, Goenka missed out on her social life and in the bargain lost a few friends. “The price I paid was nothing compared to what I have learnt and continue to learn. But there were times I was tugged in all directions.” She narrates an incident when she was away at Harvard for a course and her daughter got typhoid. The disturbed mother wanted to come back but her husband comforted her and told her that she should stay put as she had gone all the way.
When Goenka joined the group in 2002, women comprised just a minuscule 2% of the workforce, which today has risen to 40%. Ironically, though the home textile industry is largely male-dominated, the products are mostly bought by women. “While men are all about IQ, women bring with them EQ,” says Goenka, who has worked towards creating an environment conducive for women employees in the corporate office as well as in the plants. “Women also bring diversity, balance and a different thought process.”
What took her so long to start her career innings? Goenka, who grew up in Jaipur, says it was important for her to be with her kids during their early years.
“Despite the father – as also servants – being there for the children, it is only the mother who can inculcate culture in them,” says Goenka, who draws her inspiration from her mother, who was the chairperson of an urban co-operative bank and who broke the glass ceiling in a conservative Marwari community where women are usually known to keep to the backstage.
The managing director of Welspun Global Brands advises women to be disciplined and committed if they want to be taken seriously. Since the time she hit work, there hasn’t been a single day that was boring, says the glamorous Goenka, who starts her day early and wraps up late.
“If you don’t wake up with a spring in your feet, the work is not worth it,” says the fitness freak and trained kathak dancer.
As she sums up, “Respect yourself woman. Period.”
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