ALCATEL has started a “bigger and bolder” move to revive its strong presence in the Philippines by making it a subregional hub and entering the open market segment.
In an interview, Liza Woods, Alcatel regional director for Asia Pacific and country manager for the Philippines, told the BusinessMirror the brand is focused on creating a more permanent space for itself in Southeast Asia.
“We’re not here for the short term. We’re here for the long term, and the only way you can do that is to have a clear plan and a clear resource plan to support it,” she said.
Since June this year, the Philippines has been tapped as a subregion of Alcatel Asia Pacific.
“When I look at Asia Pacific, even our president when he came here at the end of March, he recognizes the importance of the Philippine market because it is stable,” she said.
Since the establishment of its local office, Alcatel has been providing customer care, customer-technical support, marketing, finance and administrative operations not only for the Philippines, but also for Vietnam and Lao PDR markets, Woods said.
This subregion, with a combined population of 200 million, will constitute the third-largest customer base of the company, next to India and Indonesia.
“The Philippines is far too important; we have to take care of it. This is the reason I’m here, to make it into a subregion,” she said.
Not a newcomer to the country, Alcatel has reemerged itself due to high replacement rates, multiple phone usage and low penetration rate in the provinces.
Seeing that the Philippine mobile-phone industry is typically mid-ranged, this trend seemed favorable for Alcatel.
“Sure, we have low-end products, we have midrange, we have high end, but where do we really sit well? It’s in that midrange,” Woods said.
To date, the mobile-phone player has locally launched nine products, featuring handsets and tablets.
The top executive said they are looking to carve a niche in the market by pricing their product in the midrange without sacrificing quality of technology.
“We sit well in the midrange bracket and the P5,999 to P10,500 bracket is what is selling well in the Philippines,” Woods said. “Consumers deserve to have higher technology. Just because we are a developing market doesn’t mean we have to settle with the lesser technology.”
Currently, Alcatel is partnered with Smart Communications and Sun Cellular. With the end of its exclusivity deal with these two of the leading telecommunications companies in the country, Woods bared they are now in talks with Globe for a possible tie-up this year.
“We have reasonably good business with the operators. We now have to make sure we strengthen that operator business,” she said.
After engaging in the operator business for the last three years, the company currently concentrates on the open market to further strengthen the brand in the Philippines.
“We still have room for growth, and we put the same effort in the open market,” she noted.
The company is in the hiring phase for its open- market thrust and is on the lookout for additional staff.
Also, it is establishing its customer support for after-sales services to bolster its competitiveness in the market.
Marketing will also be a focal point so the company is studying the demands of key areas like Metro Manila, Davao and Cebu, as well as employing a good local staff to pinpoint their localized marketing strategies.
Around 50 kiosks have been approved to sell Alcatel products nationwide. While six are now operational, the company aims to have 200 opened by year-end.
Meanwhile, Alcatel is constructing its first store in Gaisano Mall in Davao City. Plans for brand stores in Cebu and Manila are also under way. The firm aims to construct 200 stores nationwide at the end of the year.
The company will be releasing a total of 12 new models of smartphones and tablets this year.
Woods said they are expecting further growths for the Philippine market this year and beyond.
“My objective is to attain 3 percent this year, 5 percent next year, 10 percent on the third year,” she added.
Alcatel is the mobile brand of Chinese electronics company TCL Corp., which owns the largest single location mobile factory in China, capable of creating around 120 million units annually.
Globally, it is the fifth best-selling smartphone brand today. While there is no ranking within the Philippines, Woods said the brand comes in third behind Samsung and Apple, based on customer feedback.
“One thing you find from us is that we are a very humble brand. We think step by step, and we thank the customers for the business they give us, but what is more important for us is to make sure we support them,” she said.