Rezwanul Hoque has 15 years of valuable experience in the mobile handset industry. As an MBA graduate, he has a charismatic influence over almost all channels of the mobile phone industry from suppliers, dealers, retailers and customers. He is also served as the General Secretary of Bangladesh Mobile Importers Association.
With smartphone penetration growing in our country day by day, how do you see the scenario in Bangladesh evolving over the next few years?
Right now, the import of smartphones from year to year is growing by 50%. Last year total import of smartphones in Bangladesh was around 6 million, this year it’s around 9 million. So you can see the 50% growth there. Smartphone penetration is another statistic which is constantly improving. At the end of 2015 it was around 20% and in 2016 it has grown to 30%. If we look at the pattern of growth, we can easily see that this situation will only improve in the future. If you look at most developed countries, 80% of the people have smartphones and 20% have feature phones. In Bangladesh the scenario is somewhat reversed as 30% of the population are using smartphones while the remainder is using feature phones. This shows the immense scope available here. At the end of this year, only two crore people from our population will be smartphone users. However, in the next few years, this number will grow to six crores. By the end of 2017, we are expecting the smartphone and feature phone sales ratio to become 50-50.
One of our biggest strengths comes from the depth of our sales services and distribution network which is available to customers even at the Thana levels.
What can you tell us about the competitive scenario of the smartphone market in Bangladesh?
The competition in the smartphone market has driven out a lot of previously prominent brands. Once upon a time we had 20-25 international brands in the market. Now you will only see about 5-10 brands controlling the market. Market domination from big names will always fluctuate with time. Apple recently faced problems with the headphone issue and Samsung faced massive problems after the problems with their Note 7 series. Other famous brands who used to dominate are no longer playing a significant role like Motorola, Nokia, BenQ-Siemens, etc. If we look at the local scenario in Bangladesh you have to see how it has been dominated by local brands. The market share of foreign brands was only 15%, whereas local brands covered 85% of the demand. However, international brands are gaining momentum and their share of the market has recently grown to 25%. Out of this, Apple has around 1% maybe. The remaining portion is dominated by Samsung and Huawei. In terms of the overall scenario, the largest share belongs to Symphony with 45%. Next, comes Samsung with around 15% and Walton with 8-9% of the market share. Local brands are currently at the top of the smartphone market in Bangladesh and will be there for a few more years. However, it has to be noted that slowly international brands will gain more power especially the Chinese brands like Huawei and Xiaomi.
What kind of role does innovation play in helping companies improve their positions in the smartphone market?
Innovation is saturated in the market right now. We can see this with the development of the iPhone 7 which left a lot of people disappointed. Of course, there will be incremental changes but they won’t be drastic or groundbreaking. We can bring out Full HD, but immediately after that you can’t expect double Full HD. You have to depend on a few key innovations to lead you forward for some time. Therefore, companies are concentrating on improving themselves in already existing avenues. We can see this with the improvements being made in regards to camera optimization, design aesthetics, and the overall user experience. At Symphony, we focus on three key areas. Firstly, we focus on providing quality phones. Secondly, we focus on providing value for money. These two aspects are down to our in-depth understanding of the market in Bangladesh. Finally, when it comes to aftersales services, we are the number one in the country. You can buy international brands but you won’t have service centers like we do across the country. One of our biggest strengths comes from the depth of our sales services and distribution network which is available to customers even at the Thana levels.
How can new brands hope to enter this competitive framework in the Bangladeshi smartphone industry?
In the international market, Chinese brands are creating a stir with their high-quality phones and competitive prices. Their position is further strengthened by their impressive backward linkages. However, making an impact in the Bangladesh market might be a taxing prospect for some foreign brands as a large amount of invest would be required in the distribution and service networks. This procedure will also take some time as they will be required to settle and grow for a number of years. Symphony has the upper hand in this regard. Currently, the biggest opportunity for new players lies in the online market. In India, 30% of the market has now gone online, whereas here, it is less than 1%. New brands who would want to claim a stake in the Bangladeshi smartphone market can dedicate themselves to serving online customers. The advantage here lies in the fact that through e-commerce and online sales, companies can cut down other sales and distribution costs which can allow some sellers to provide phones at reduced prices. However, the problem in our country is that a lot of the online trade is going on through the gray market which allows retailers to sell the phones without the 25% tax that’s imposed on properly imported phones. This gray market needs to be nullified before a proper online phone market can be established in Bangladesh.
In India, 30% of the market has now gone online, whereas here, it is less than 1%. New brands who would want to claim a stake in the Bangladeshi smartphone market can dedicate themselves to serving online customers.
What new products can we expect from Symphony in the coming days?
We always trying to innovate and improve our quality. Our latest flagship phone from our Z Series is set to be launched in the first quarter of 2017. We are also releasing a new phone on our R (Robust) Series which focuses on the battery life as that’s a major concern for smartphone users. The newest models in this series come with a minimum 4000 mAh battery. This will focus on both reducing energy consumption and improving the battery size. However, regardless of the enhanced battery, you will not find any difference in its design compared to our other phones. Our symphony accessories department which opened 3-4 years back is also working to provide customers with everything they need including batteries, chargers, and power banks.
