New Delhi-based Intex Technologies has seen its days of glory in the past and had been manufacturing smartphones at a blistering pace to take the top position in the Indian market. However, from the beginning of 2016, the situation at the company seems to have got worse and everything is now going downhill.
Intex launched the maximum number of smartphones in 2015, but come 2016 and the company failed to launch many new exciting products. According to reports, 200 employees have quit the company to look out for better opportunities, fearing any troubles in the future.
The report specifically points out at a lack of product roadmap and strategies, fall in market share and phone supply issues causing dwindling sales to be the major causes of such mass exodus. We usually do not hear about so many people leaving at once, instead we only hear about mass firing at startups and similar companies.
“They usually do Rs 300-325 crore (of handset sales) in a month. This month, they are at around Rs 150 crore so far and by August end, will likely do around Rs 250 crore,” the report states. Intex has been catering to budget feature phones and smartphones for quite some time now, and not much has changed over the past few months.
What explains this mass exodus at Intex?
As stated previously, lack of product roadmap and strategies for upcoming festive season are quite unclear and since the company’s management isn’t taking steps in that direction, the employees do not feel secure working for Intex. In fact not just lower-level employees, even some from the higher management have quit.
There has also been an issue at the supply-side causing delays in phone launches. The report says, “Another possible challenge for Intex is a shortage in the industry of printed circuit boards and display panels, which come from China, because of high levels of advance orders placed by established players to make phones locally.”
No doubt Chinese players like Xiaomi, Gionee and LeEco are giving Indian companies a run for their money, it is also these same companies that are setting up local manufacturing units to meet their demand. When a foreign company beats you at your game, you should know how to rebound and strike with double force.
Interestingly, these employees that have quit, have moved on to competing companies like the upcoming Ziox Mobiles, Zen Mobiles and Lava International. Since most of these employees were either with sales and product in Intex, they found similar roles at one of these smartphone makers.
Now that Intex has come face-to-face with this exodus, the company has revamped its management strategy and has hired new executives who will try to improve the situation for the smartphone division.
Intex Technologies’ smartphone business does not seem to have a very bright future, unless acted upon right now. Lack of good smartphones, fierce competition from Chinese players and supply issues from China are adding to the losses for the company. Moreover, new Indian smartphone makers like Hyve Mobility, CREO, Smartron and Ziox Mobiles are taking advantage of such situations to churn out interesting phones.
Source: ToI
