A couple of years back, the smartphone industry was only supported by applications introduced to improve device utility. But, now hardware is entering the market to get connected to a device and operates as one to perform a wide range of jobs from blood pressure monitoring to remote tube well control.
While this transition is paving the way for tech entrepreneurship, it’s also eliminating limitations of handheld devices.
Cellular mobile manufacturers are slowly, but steadily, unveiling gadgets supplementing their primary products in Pakistan.
Mobile phone maker Motorola pensively focuses on the watershed to regain its past glory in the country’s mobile market abuzz with a plethora of smartphone choices available with the tech-savvy consumers.
“The only way to break through is innovation in smartphone industry where there is a lot of brands and clutter,” Sharay Shams, general manager for Smartphones Lenovo Middle East told Money Matters in an interview.
Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility’s handset business in 2014, and now sells the brand under the Moto label.
Shams said there are constraints with mobile phones, for example, screen size and battery time, but “our models break those limitations.”
“Now, I can operate 70-inch screen from my phone. Optical zoom is not there in a phone, but a mod can be attached to enhance smartphone capability. Then there is an extra battery mod,” he explained.
“In future, AR (augmented reality) and AI (artificial intelligence) will become part and parcel of the phone… I think the possibilities are unlimited,” he said.
Motorola has a separate online platform for anyone to come and develop accessories to disrupt the consumer ecosystem. Developers can download ‘mod development kit’ from the platform and can build anything which consumers or ecosystem wants.
The kit actually tells how to build mod and how to integrate it with software.
Developers can market and sell accessories. Besides, Motorola announces global prizes for best design and utility to encourage disruption.
Pakistani consumers are now rapidly connected to the Internet and their primary content consumption is on mobile phone. Mobile broadband connections (3G+4G) reached almost 43 million as of July end.
Telecom players keep on exploring mobile technologies and some of them are internationally acclaimed for their digital health as well as financial solutions.
High taxes and low average revenue per user (ARPU) are, however, an Achilles' heel for the telecom industry.
“ARPU is a lot linked to how accessible high speed data is and how the consumer today is engaging with his device,” Motorola’s official said. “And, I think Pakistan is in a transformation stage right now. As 4G network is now scaling in the country there is no reason why those numbers do not go up.”
Highs-speed mobile internet 4G connections stood at around six million by July-end.
There is still a tremendous growth opportunity for mobile telecom industry in Pakistan where smartphone penetration is between 40 to 45 percent.
“After the introduction of 3G/4G, Pakistan has become the number one in my region from the volume perspective,” Shams said. “Pakistan will continue to evolve as any of the market in the region when it comes to artificial intelligence, machine learning and reliance on more data.”
He said psyche of Pakistani and mature market consumers is not different.
“Pakistani consumers who have access to right platform are as mature as other consumers out there,” he added. “So as long as 4G penetration is increasing consumers are becoming more mature.”
Motorola’s executive said both price sensitivity and features are important factors, but “in this region consumers generally value product design, metal design, camera quality, and battery time.”
“We are transitioning our business to Motorola and we are going to double down on Motorola as a brand,” he added. “Our focus in Pakistan as well as in the region is to bring back Motorola in the market. So, we are bringing a full range of devices with customised features that matter (to) local consumers.”
The company, despite being well-positioned within the top-tier brands, realised that it would face the cut-throat competition from better-known names, such as Samsung, QMobile, Huawei and Nokia.
“We can be a stronger player in Pakistan on the back of right price point, innovation and brand recall. We are well-recognised as at some point of time consumers used Motorola mobile or we have been associated with them,” Shams averred. “In my point of view, there is a lot of recall, lot of connection with the brand,” he said.
Motorola Mobility has not planned any investment in near future in Pakistan that is in need of infrastructure development and seeing funds currently chipping in for acquisitions in base stations. But, the company is optimistic about the investment prospect.
“In the short-term, we focus on building channel strategy and product availability. We already have a distribution model in place to help it connect with retailers,” the company’s manager said. “Down the line, (however) we will see how the business shapes up and how the environment shapes up around us and then definitely it is a strategic market and we need to think about it.”
The writer is a staff member
