Following Micromax, Lava the domestic phone company is trying to make a comeback in the smartphone market with five new models following government schemes incentivizing electronic manufacturing in India.
Lava launched five smartphone models—Z1, Z2, Z4, and Z6—for ₹5,499 to ₹9,999, while Lava MyZ, a customizable phone will be priced at ₹6,999-10,500.
The company is said to invest ₹800 crore in 2021 to boost its smartphone business which will be focused towards research & development, manufacturing and promoting international presence. Lava offcials provided no comments on how they are planning to raise capital but according to a report by Mint, Lava is preparing to go public after the Union budget raising ₹1,400 crore through the IPO.
Sunil Raina, president and business head, Lava International said, “We will double our design capacity in terms of the number of people. In manufacturing we are expecting 30% addition.” It has 3,000-4,000 employees in manufacturing and around 100 people in design.
Lava is aiming to capture 5% of the smartphone market in 2021 and is counting on its new customisable phones and upgrade-after-purchase schemes to differentiate products.
“If at any point in time, within the first year, you feel that you need an upgrade on RAM or ROM, you can come to us and we will get them upgraded at incremental cost,” said Raina. “If you look at the India market, there are roughly 400 million people who still use feature phones. When they move up to a smartphone they may not be having the money to buy the best phone,” he added.
Amid growing interest in 5G services and compatible smartphones, Lava will launch 5G phones too. According to Raina, more than one-third of their portfolio will be 5G-ready by the end of 2021.
