A new report has revealed that iQOO and POCO are planning on entering the offline market in India. The companies will apparently expand their presence in their region by having their offerings sold through offline stores in early 2022.
According to a 91Mobiles report, known tipster has revealed that the two Chinese brands are planning to finally enter the offline market in India. For those unaware, the Indian smartphone market relies on two major channels, which is offline and online. While the online channels dominate in major cities via Flipkart and Amazon, the offline segment is still a largely popular in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. This is also the segment where brands like Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and even Xiaomi hold a strong presence in, with their budget offerings.
As of right now, iQOO and POCO have sold their handsets through online channel, but this might soon change. Reportedly, the companies are expected to launch their devices offline sometime between the months of January to March 2022. This move arrives as no surprise since these companies are also sub brands of established giants (iQOO-Vivo & Xiaomi-POCO) in the market.
Unfortunately, finer details about the roll out of devices in the offline channels is currently unknown. But the brands are expected to first begin entering this segment in tier 1 cities first, before moving forward and expanding to other regions within the country. Keep in mind that this is still an unconfirmed report so take it with a pinch of salt for now and stay tuned for more updates.
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