Alcatel One touch hand to attack the smartphone market

Become the " H & M or Zara smartphone ." It is the ambition of the Chinese smartphone maker Alcatel One Touch at the 2013 edition of the IFA , the largest trade fair for consumer electronics , which takes place every year in September in Berlin.

Resulting from the merger between the terminal division of the Chinese and French Alcatel TCL Alcatel One Touch is currently not well known to the general public . Few consumers at the most knowledge of its basic and very cheap phones(Lenovo A850) sold in supermarkets or online.

Yet a little over a year, the Asian manufacturer has decided to launch an offensive in the competitive smartphone market . Sales , embryonic in 2012 , experiencing exponential growth from 3.3 million smartphones sold worldwide between April and June , against 1.3 million a quarter earlier .

MIDSCALE

The idea of Alcatel One Touch position on a mid-range, large consumer segment , largely untapped by the giants of the industry. " We made a simple observation says Dan Dery , worldwide marketing manager for Alcatel One Touch. At the top there are very expensive at over 500 euros smartphones, and while there, there are so-called low cost, an attempt to imitate the high end but with worse components , but in the middle there is nothing! "

The brand expects that with the democratization of the smartphone(Lenovo A760), most consumers do not want or will not be able to spend more than 500 euros for their terminal. " Most people are not interested in the number of cores in a processor or the number of screen pixels, what they want is a good phone that is fast, easy to use and at a fair price , "insists the head .

For him, this product category is in textiles with retailers like Zara , H & M or Uniqlo , but not yet in the smartphone market. To achieve its goals , Alcatel One Touch has decided to focus on " the functions that make sense : the camera, the colors , the design and functionality ." The manufacturer has designed three ranges of smartphones ( and Pop Idol Ultra) from 60 euros to 350 euros more affordable to the most expensive.

" QUALITY AT THE FRENCH "

Remains to build a reputation : " The IFA kicks start our major communication campaign says Dery We will invest a sum unprecedented in Inteet campaigns but also on TV The idea is . . to clearly identify the brand. "

Besides intensive marketing , Alcatel One Touch also has the image of a company capable of providing "quality to the French ." " We are the French of Chinese enterprises, says Dery . 40% of our management is French , the rest is rather inteational . 's Chief quality is French example . " The plants are all located however a few kilometers from Shenzhen become essential for the assembly of electronic products in China .

In France , these smartphones should be distributed soon by the three largest operators as well as retail sites online . But they will face competition increasingly fierce : the smartphone(Lenovo A830) Chinese brands Wiko or Huawei, arrived well before the market and positioned in similar price ranges .

Both brands are also a card sites online sales as Ticketmaster or Rue du Commerce. " We are not exactly the same niche , and we hope that buyers will make a difference with our products," says Dery . For consumers, the difference may be a little too subtle.