In aggressive mode, Gionee eyes 2.5 times sales growth in 2017

Chinese smartphone maker Gionee clocked USD1.4 billion (Rs 9,500 crore) of revenue in India last year, closing in on rival Micromax Informatics, and expects sales to grow 2.5 times this year.

The company, which entered India in 2012 and competes with Chinese rivals, including Xiaomi and Lenovo, besides market leader Samsung Electronics, has signed on Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli as a brand ambassador after bringing in Alia Bhatt last year.

Arvind Vohra, Managing Director, Gionee India, said, "2017 will be the second chapter of our aggression."

He didn't share details of the contract with Kohli. Vohra said revenue will rise by 2.5 times by the year end.

He added, "Leaving aside (investments in manufacturing), we would be profitable."

Micromax, one of India's largest phone manufacturer and the country's third-largest smartphone maker, reported 10,000 crore of revenues in FY15-16.

Xiaomi recently said it crossed USD 1 billion in revenue in 2016, two years after entering India.

Gionee plans to make all phones sold in India locally by April, Vohra said. The company makes about 600,000 phones a month in the price band of Rs 7,000 to Rs 30,000 through contract manufacturers Foxconn & Dixon.

The capacity would more than double this year. The company has acquired 50 acres of land for its own manufacturing unit in Faridabad, Haryana, which will take around 18-24 months to come up.

The plant will have a capacity of 30 million units with an investment of Rs 500 crore. Gionee is banking on branding and targeted distribution to increase its share of the smartphone market.

Vohra expects the Rs 7,000- 30,000 price segment to grow by 25-30 percent. The Shenzhen-headquartered company will increase its marketing spend in the world's fastest growing smartphone market to Rs 500 crore this year, up by 40 percent from last year.