Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Aqua Iceberg,Cosmos and Knight: Do the higher priced locally branded phones have a market?

The O+ 8.15 was the first locally branded phone which we saw go past the 10K barrier. While O+ is a US registered brand, this company sell smartphones in the Philippines only. This was followed by Starmobile with its Knight and MyPhone with its Aqua Iceberg. Cherry Mobile released a gaggle of new phones starting at Php9,999.

Following a thread on TipidCP, it would seem that the consensus is, locally branded 10K phones are too expensive. At this price, they match comparable offerings from more established brands like Lenovo or ZTE. 

The Starmobile Knight seemed to do well enough, being out of stock wherever you looked. But it really looks like few were actually distributed for sale, with dealers taking waiting lists. Interestingly, the Starmobile Diamond V7 announced two months ago, has not been launched. This 5.7-inch phablet, would have been priced over Php10,000. I wonder whether feedback on Starmobile Knight sales convinced the company not to release the Diamond V7. 



The MyPhone Agua Iceberg sold pretty well at launched, but this was helped a grand launch event last July, and a 24-month zero interest plans. I have been inquiring with a MyPhone dealer about the availability of the midnight blue version, and they told me it might arrive when they consume their existing stocks of Icebergs. Apparently, they have about two dozen units available in one branch right now. 

It is also not difficult the three Cherry Mobile Cosmos phones that have been released in the market so far, the X, S and X2. In a previous article I wrote, comparing the Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0 (Php8,999) to the Cherry Mobile Cosmos X (Php9,990) five readers gave feedback and all chose the Omega HD 2.0.

So, is the consensus that the higher priced locally branded phones are priced beyond what the market is willing to bear?

6 comments:

  1. spending pass 10T for a untested unit is a act of fool

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think at those price points, the market you're trying to capture is considering a 'better' branded mid-range phone. Maybe because they expect better after sales service, maybe because it's kind of a social status thing? A Samsung Galaxy Win sells for around 14k I think, just a few thousand more than these guys. I think 8k-8.5k is the ceiling price these brands should aim for their higher end phones. Just my 2 cents, maybe things will change in the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The value for money ratio does drop as specifications and prices of the local brands goes up. Instead of being a third of half the price, it starts to become 60-70% the price of the branded versions.

      After sales service has always been pretty poor whether from a branded phone or not. A lot of after sales services are actually outsourced.

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  3. I reckon quite a few people read this editorial from unbox.

    http://www.unbox.ph/gadget/editorial-quad-core-doesnt-always-beat-dual-core/

    It makes you think twice about picking up a 10k-12k quad core phone since for a few thousand more you can get a Sony-branded dual core that actually performs better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have not read it yet. Will give it a look later. But it is no secret that dual core Kraits can outperform quad core A9's.

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