‘#DontListen Kar Daal’—How is Comio Devising Devices Dynamism?

His teammates call him a ‘go-getter’ and he is being credited for making many businesses viable, Sanjay Kalirona, a very well-known name in the Indian mobile industry, is at the helm of affairs at Comio India.
Within a short span of time, Comio has made a niche for itself under Kalirona’s guidance. In a chit chat with Voice&Data, he tells us about Comio’s long-term vision.

‘#DontListen Kar Daal’ goes well as the tagline for a company that showcased its boisterous, determined, plucky nature to do something big. The latest smartphone brand in the India market Comio, within a short span of time, has able to stand out from the crowd with its high decibel promotions and robust distribution channel. The company, which competes with the likes of Xiaomi, Samusung, etc, doesn’t have short terms goals for the market, but believes in doing things consistently to achieve long-term vision.

Within six months of its launch, the company has impressed the youth club with its stylish smartphones-- Comio P1, Comio S1, Comio C1, Comio P1, in the price band of INR 6K-10K.

Riding high on its robust distribution channel, the company is targeting Rs 1,000 crore sales by March this year.
As per CMR’s shipments report, Comio’s collective shipments for October and November stood at around 160K, which is a good number for a new entrant.

It has opened thousands of retail outlets and hundreds of service centers. In addition to connect to the youth, it has not only roped in Bollywood star, but also internet star as its brand ambassador.
“We are launching devices--‘By the youth, For the youth and Of the youth’. We are in India for the long run and will constantly push to impress and capture the hearts of our customers with stylish cutting-edge design, exceptional user experience, consumer-friendly product development, quality service, and most importantly an attitude for perfection,” says Sanjay Kalirona, the man at the helm of affairs.

Kalirona, CEO and Director of Comio India, has about 18 years of experience in the devices market, oscillating across new business development, strategic planning, distribution, sales and marketing, channel development.

He is credited for his market strategies that are a blend of changing dynamics and sensitivities of the market. His team praises his exemplary leadership skills and often calls him ‘a go-getter’.

Security—The Pivot

Kalirona believes that to be different from others, one need to do things differently. So, while others were talking about their fine selfie cameras, Comio realizing the significance of security came out with enhanced security features.

The company brought in its anti-theft feature, where even if a phone is lost one can remotely control the device.

“So, it has a feature where you register a number in the security settings and using the same number you can block your personal data, lock your device, can import data and you can also track your cell phone using the company’s website if the intruder switches on the phone using some other SIM,” explains Kalirona.

“Also, if someone tries to unlock your device say by entering a wrong pin/password, the device will automatically click the picture of the person and when the user unlocks his/her phone will get the picture of the intruder,” he adds.

Besides, the company is securing the device by providing Anti-Virus and is also giving clean smartphone, which is again an USP, for which it is not putting any additional app since the third party apps are not considered safe from data security.
So, Comio is a safe device and there are no pre-loaded third party apps and it is up to the user if he/she wants to download any app. We are also not using any third party OS to compromise user’s personal data. It has Google’s default android OS in which the data is safe, he says.

In a nutshell, we are proving all security features, for which the Government of India had shown concerns. We are giving clean android, not using any third-party OS and also, we are giving several security features to the users which they can use when they lose their device.

On 5G…

Kalirona says that 5G is gaining a lot of traction these days and device makers have started contemplating how to make 5G compatible devices and a lot of action would be seen this year.

“The 5G network is going to run at a much faster speed than the current 4G network. We want to be a part of the growth in the telecom industry. Comio will work hard to develop phones that have higher resolution and increased memory capacity so that people can make good use of internet and can enjoy it in high-definition on their devices.”

What’s in Store for 2018?

As the company steps into 2018, expanding its businesses will remain its key focus areas. With over 30,000 retailers, over 800 distributors and 800 after-sales touch points, the company plans to strengthen its presence pan-India.

“2018 is a critical year for Comio as we are expanding our presence further into India with launches in South and East markets. An essential part of our company’s culture lies in its assurance to develop and deliver the best products possible, through openness to customer feedback,” mentions Kalirona.

As far as the manufacturing scenario is concerned, Topwise Communication, the parent company that owns Comio, is deputing 20 highly skilled engineers from China for training them for its manufacturing facilities in order to match up with the global standards.

As part of ‘Make in India’ plans, the company has already invested INR 150 crore in manufacturing over the next two years in India.
The company is also actively embracing new trends such as under-glass fingerprint sensor, Iris scanner and face recognition, and AR.