New mobile phone manufacturer, itel, has said it will tackle counterfeiting of its mobile phones in the Nigerian market in 2013.
This was part of the company’s growth strategies highlighted at a forum recently organised for its dealers in Lagos.
The General Manager of the company, Mr. Andy Yan, said itel would roll out new sales promotion in 2013 and address the issue of counterfeit in order to further build the confidence that dealers had in the brand.
Going forward, he said itel would take advantage of smartphones and feature phones, as well as its third generation feature phones to further enhance its business in Nigeria.
He also promised that itel would continue to carry out new research in order to come up with more innovative products that would be of interest to Nigerian consumers.
Yan explained that the company would continue to leverage on its wide network of service centres spread across the country to offer services to the customers.
“The service centres have technical support team that will address the needs of customers in the Nigerian market,” he assured.
Similarly, the Sales Manager, itel, Mr. Shyamol Saha, said Nigeria would witness increased sale of mobile phone in 2013, adding that the company would endeavour to be part of the expected phenomenal growth.
He said, “In 2013, we are looking at a total of eight to 10 million units of phones to be sold in Nigeria. Currently, we have over 100 million mobile phone subscribers in Nigeria, according to NCC statistics, and I see the number doubling itself in the next few years, because most rural communities in the country are yet to get access to telephony.
What that means to us in the mobile phone market is that there will be more sale of mobile phones as the operators spread to more rural communities.”
The Deputy General Manager, itel, Mr. David Lei, had earlier attributed the company’s significant growth in the Nigerian market in 2012 to the commitment and loyalty of its dealers.
Pleased with the contribution of its dealers in pushing the new brand into the market, itel gave out iPads to 20 dealers for their commitment and for high volume of phone sales they recorded last year.
The high point of the reward was the presentation of a brand new Toyota Fortune Jeep to the Managing Director, Decotex Nigeria Limited, Mr. Dennis Okorie, for turning out the highest volume of sales for the itel brand of mobile phones in 2012.