LAVA emerges as the Challenger mobile handset brand in India: CyberMedia research report

NEW DELHI: A recent study by Cyber Media Research (CMR) revealed that mobile handset manufacturer LAVA has emerged as the Challenger mobile handset brand across India. Among the Indian states, it has also become the number one Indian mobile handset brand in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and J&K. The achievement comes on the heels of an overwhelming growth of 29% in Q3’16 mobile handset shipments by Lava, marking a phenomenal increase in shipped handsets which stood at over 7.1 million in Q3’16 as opposed to 5.4 million in Q2’16 this year.

A part of CyberMedia, South Asia's largest specialty media and media services group, CyberMedia Research (CMR) has been a front runner in market research, consulting and advisory services since 1986. From challenging perceptions and subverting marketing assumptions to disrupting an entire industry, a Challenger brand is defined as brand which is set to outshine the established market leader in the industry.

Commenting on this, Navin Chawla, Chief Operating Officer, Lava International said, “We are very proud of this milestone. It is a work of a much-planned strategy, commitment and perseverance which has got us this far. Despite immense competition, we have done highest volume amongst all Indian mobile handset brands and have emerged as the Challenger brand across India. It is also very humbling to know that we are the number one Indian mobile handset brand in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and J&K. We firmly believe that our diversified range of products, our focus on quality, manufacturing, a robust distribution and services channel have helped to achieve this – which are in line with our brand values of trust and reliability. This feat only reaffirms our faith in the direction that we have taken. We sincerely thank our customers and other stakeholders for the trust they have reposed in us.”

The past year played a pivotal role in the growth journey of LAVA. The company clocked a revenue of Rs 7626 crore with a growth rate of 23% from are previous year. Additionally, Lava increased its distribution width by 44% to 120K outlets in FY 15-16 is working towards having 165K outlets by end of this financial year. This achievement also comes at the back of Lava’s over 1000 service points in India.

Lava also has aggressive plans for strengthening its manufacturing in India to cater to both domestic and international markets. It has earmarked an overall investment of Rs 2615 crores for ramping up the existing manufacturing units along with setting up more manufacturing facilities to increase the overall production capacity to 216 million units per annum in the next five to eight years. With this, Lava is aiming 20 percent mobile handset market share by 2018-end. To demonstrate its commitment to emerging markets, Lava is also steering the mobile phone design roadmap in India and is working towards establishing the very 1st Mobile Phone Design Center in India by end of 2017.

Today, in a highly cluttered mobile handset industry, Lava has created a robust positioning for itself as a reliable and a trustworthy brand. This year, the company roped in Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador to launch its ‘Never lets you down’ brand campaign which is an indicator of its core values of ‘Trust and Reliability’. The campaign received an overwhelming response from the audience and has helped in creating a substantial mark for the brand amongst the consumers.