Once seen as a residual brand in the smartphone industry, where it would get clubbed as ‘others’ in every report that would trace the journey of smartphones in India, Tecno has come a long way and today stands as a strong contender of featuring in top 10 smartphone brands. This as a standalone brand and not as Transsion group, where we have two other brands also – Infinix and itel.
In recent months Tecno has taken some bold initiatives on many fronts. Some of the newsworthy steps it took include advertising on a plane, hosting a ramp-walk and aggressively onboarding retailers in the offline channel. But it did not stop here!
Tecno has also taken some bold steps in product also. It is not just a replica of the competition where one may say that it has just followed the playbook. Tecno has shown its own determination and belief in the brand through some of the recent launches, where it has also taken a different path. Let’s talk about them chronologically.
Phantom V Flip
Well, the pricing is not surprising as we got the clue with Tecno’s Phantom V Fold launch that it wants to drive what I call ‘affordables’ (affordable + foldable) a segment which has a defined cohort of users as its target market. So, offering it under ₹50,000 wasn’t a big surprise when its first flip was announced by Tecno. But what really is noteworthy is the circular outer display in the smartphone. This is not an easy decision by any smartphone maker. For Tecno its even difficult as its not yet seen that league of brands that could introduce something new for the first time in the industry. For Tecno the easiest proposition could have been coming up with a flip smartphone at a lower price point, which it did. But to delight, it brought in a new thought, a circular display! This is a very bold step by Tecno and only reaffirms its belief in itself.
Pova 5 Pro
Well, here I wouldn’t say Tecno did something phenomenally different like what it did in the case of Phantom V Flip. But yes, bringing the interactive back lights which it calls Arc interface is a segment first. To be able to bring something for the first time in a segment is not that easy. Especially if it’s not a higher specification of an already existing feature in the segment. Here again the brand made its intent loud and clear – it wants to be a trendsetter!
Phantom V Fold
Here again, with launch of foldable smartphone in relatively affordable segment, Tecno took a bold step. Fold is not an easy proposition. It is a paradigm shift for a consumer to accept the form factor which has concerns around durability, cost of servicing, etc. This is the reason why again tier 1 brands have forayed in it, some are yet to venture in it. Tecno again led the trend by introducing the most affordable book fold form factor smartphone.
If we look at these three recent product propositions of Tecno, it only showcases the bold statements that Tecno has made be it introducing something completely new in the industry, introducing something new in the segment, or creating a new affordable segment of a very complex proposition. There are brands who have done such things in the past. Especially, introducing new things in a segment or creating a new segment, but many of those have been only to earn eyeballs. For example, OPPO’s Find X smartphones. OPPO entered into a new segment but has nothing done beyond launching a smartphone in the segment. Contrary to this, we see Tecno consistently setting trends only to reinforce its commitment and faith in itself. Tecno is no longer playing safe or following the playbook defined by the industry. It is making some bold statements and also yielding encouraging results. Tecno is going to be one such brand to keep a close eye in 2024 and trace its growth trajectory. With a lot many things sorted and reinforced by the brand thus far, the journey beyond only appears to be impressive.
