Review Central ME in conversation with Tim Chen, the CEO of Dubai based InnJoo brand of smartphones, that has taken the market by surprise and it continues to keep on riding the wave of e-tailing by offering value for money handsets in the region
How has been your journey and the response from the market?
InnJoo is a Dubai-based company born in 2014 and it’s internet journey was started by joining hands with the largest e-commerce sites in the region. With its unique e-commerce strategy and the right-selected product, the journey has been extremely satisfying and it has helped us grow at a rapid pace. Today, we command a healthy position in the market and we have been able to build a sustained momentum in the market.
Middle East including UAE and the KSA is our key markets and we are witnessing exponential growth in these markets, at the past one year, more than 2 million devices sold out and surely it’s something we are proud of. And InnJoo is expanding its reach in the region by entering Egyptian market where InnJoo has been able to capture the imagination of the consumers.
Why is that InnJoo seems choose to be only in e-commerce space and not in traditional retail space?
We all know that the traditional retail model is working well, but it also causes more operation costs including listing fee, multi-tier channel fee and so on. Obviously, the cost will be passed to consumers directly or indirectly and it will be reflected on the end user price. While InnJoo aims to make it different, the idea of brand-direct-to-end user model came out and we are being able to cut out channel costs to provide the well using experience with competitive price. Except the necessary operation costs, the biggest advantage of e-commerce is to cut out much of the middle channel costs. And we are able to utilize this part to increase investment for software development, improvement of product quality, and also to make the price more competitive, from another dimension is also a benefit for our consumer.
How is the smartphone market shaping up in the Middle East and Africa region?
The Middle East and Africa region is one of the world’s most vibrant and fast-growing mobile markets. The market for mobile phones in Middle East continues to rise, and according to a latest report by IDC, 29.75 million mobile phones were shipped across the Middle East region during Q3 2015, marking a 4.4% increase on the previous quarter. The report also highlights that the growth in the region is spearheaded by UAE, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. The research firm, IDC expects mobile phone shipments for 2016 as a whole in the Middle East to cross the 123 million mark, with smartphones accounting for over 70% of that figure. InnJoo is proud to be one of the leading consumer electronics providers in the this region.
What are the new trends do you witness in smartphones?
The strong growth in the region’s smartphone market is largely being driven by the emergence of low-priced devices that are primarily powered by Android. Low-priced smartphones are also having a considerable impact in the Middle East and Africa, with the $100–200 price range accounting for the market’s biggest share. Under such situation, InnJoo’s strategy is to provide the mobiles with high quality and highly competitive price.
According to you, what shall be next big thing or innovation in smartphones?
As I can see, there will be more innovative ways to interactive with your devices, for example, finger print, gestures and voice. Earlier this year, InnJoo has launched a new product called InnJoo 2 which had Mediatek’s Octa-core processor and 2.0 fingerprint sensor unlock technology. This kind of technology at an affordable device is very rare. We are constantly trying to upgrade our products with latest innovations and you will see newer technology in our new devices.
In such a crowded market, where so many new brands keep on popping up, how do you differentiate and position InnJoo in the market?
It’s true that smartphone market is getting crowded with more players. So it is crucial for us to optimize consumer experience to differentiate us from the crowd. We deliver the high-quality user experience and latest technology to customers with affordable price. Quality is the most important thing for us. We have been launching quality devices with the latest technology and attractive design. Our focus is to provide best user experience to our customers. We are committed to quality, cutting edge technology and maximum value for our customers by providing competitive consumer electronic products.
What should a customer look at while buying an smartphone?
In my view Price vs Specs is the major determinant in the buying behaviour. Next comes a good design and then a good user experience. We know our market and also our target segment so we launch our product accordingly. However, different customers have different demand, some go for speed because they love to play game and processing speed and internal memory play an important role here while others go for multimedia functions. We try to combine both in our products.
What do customers expect from InnJoo?
Customers should expect a lot from us this year, in terms of innovation in our devices. This year we have launched InnJoo 2, which comes with 2.0 fingerprint technology, and Fire2 Series, which is beautifully designed, powered by big battery and chipset supporting LTE network. And there will be more innovative products and devices with bigger RAM, better camera and more new technologies applied for our customers. We spend a lot of money on research and development, just to understand our cunstomers’ needs on a deeper level. When these are known, we factor them into our design plan and bring out the best of innovative designs that meet the needs of consumers, because their satisfaction is our delight.
