Indian feature phone vendor Lava International stated ambitions to take a third of the feature phone market in India within 12 months and transform into a significant player in the budget segment.
In an interview with Reuters, president and business head Sunil Raina said the company will launch 4G feature phones to take 35% market share within a year, increasing from its current stance of 26% in feature phones.
Raina told Reuters Lava wants to “come to a very dominant position” in the segment. The executive also said the company is aiming to boost its smartphones gradually over the next two years, with ambitions to expand from its current 1% to 2% market share to 10%, in the below INR30,000 (US$360) segment. Lava smartphones will support 5G or above by next year said Raina.
Lava International was set up in 2009 specialising in feature phones with keypads but no high-end features, and affordable smartphones.
According to Counterpoint Research, Lava holds a 1% market share in India with 650 million devices. The analyst firm counted around 290 million people still use feature phones in India.
