“We estimate the annual smartphone market at 150,000-200,000 units in Romania, of which we currently have a 3-4 percent share. If we do not reach a 15 percent market share in two-three years, this means we haven’t done good business,” said Nikitas Glykas, HTC Regional Manager for South-Eastern Europe.
According to Glykas, the company will apply a new marketing and sales strategy during the winter holidays, with more focus on the consumer segment. The devices will have lower prices on the medium segment of the market, without losing their options. “This is what we will do in 2010-2011,” added Glykas.
The official expects the local smartphone market to increase significantly, depending on the economic evolution and the purchasing power of individual clients.
“The mobile phone market was beginning to be saturated around the world. Then 3G technology came along, as a way of expanding businesses, and then the iphone appeared. The phone produced by Apple opened the market. It did not take anything from our segment – we were then concentrating on business – but opened the market for other categories of users. Last year, we had to decide whether to stay on our niche, with expensive, business products, or to enter the consumer segment as well,” said the HTC official.
HTC ranks fourth, with 6.7 percent of the total Romanian smartphone market in September, according to market sources, quoting a study by the GfK research company. The top three players locally in terms of smartphone sales are the Finnish Nokia producer, the BlackBerry terminals, produced by Research In Motion (RIM), and iPhone, produced by Apple.
