Brand looking to take greater share of regional market

IT has not yet reaped its desired share of success in the English-speaking Caribbean as it has in the Dominican Republic and Latin America. However, Jesus Hung, the Central America and Caribbean Regional Manager for Alcatel One Touch, is excited about the prospects of growing the company’s market share in these parts.

Speaking at the launch of two of its phones last week Thursday in Barbados – the One Touch 20.05 and the One Touch T-Pop which it will be distributing through local operation LIME – Hung gave the assurance that his company was committed to serving the regional market.

Central America and Caribbean Regional Manager for Alcatel One Touch, Jesus Hung.

“We assure you ... we came to stay. We are not planning to disappear next year. We want to play with the big ones and we are doing it very well.”

Alcatel One Touch is a company of the Chinese firm TCL. It is a completely private company which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and which manufactures its own phones and also provides ODM services for other brands. The company will be moving its factory to China in the coming months, which will see it increase its production capacity to 110 million handsets per year.

“We have a lot of competitors, a lot of brands and to build a brand like what we have been able to do in the last 6 to 7 years is not easy,” said Hung who also pointed out that the company complies with many worldwide certifications and is keen on upholding high ethical codes of operation, including those related to labour conditions.

Hung later told Business Monday that Alcatel was pleased to be seeing the fruits of efforts which it started with LIME three years ago as it related to rolling out its brand, adding that the on-the-ground presence it experienced through collaboration with operators was what was going to make its branding efforts a success.

Alcatel says it will be spending millions of dollars for its branding campaign throughout the region.

When asked what was the secret behind the significant success it has seen over the last 2 years, particularly given the recessionary environment, Hung said that Alcatel’s growth strategy has always been to tap into emerging markets which have been traditionally neglected or not catered to by other higher-end brands.

“While others are growing, they are not doing so in the same ways. We have focused on those emerging markets where the penetration was not so high; mainly Latin America, Africa, and East Asia,” Hung said. (RA)