Business

Saturday May 23, 2009

Samart ready for aggressive expansion

By LEE KIAN SEONG in Bangkok


There’s never a better time to stand out.The bitterly competitive global telecommunications industry is facing numerous challenges on the back of soft market conditions due to the global economic crisis.

And although most telcos may be holding back their expansion plans, Thailand-based Samart I-Mobile Public Company Limited (Samart), is ready to expand its business aggressively.

Samart chief operating officer Jong Diloksombat says the company is exploring business opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Western European countries this year.

“We want to aggresively develop our local and international markets to better serve our customers demands,” he said in a briefing in Bangkok recently.

He says the company will be setting up an office in Dubai this month. Samart, listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, operates high-quality communication services and provides a variety of information technology, including multimedia infotainment and interactive media content.

It is involved in mobile phones, multimedia and international businesses, which carry the brand name of “i-mobile”. It chalked up a revenue of RM1bil last year.

Diloksombat says the company would also rely on Axiata’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Bangladesh, India, Singapore, Iran, Indonesia and Malaysia to expand its footprint.

Axiata is the major shareholder in Samart with a 24% stake in the company. It has over 90 million subscribers in the region.

He says Samart is currently in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia and India.

“We aim to sell five million handsets this year, 2.7 million of which would be sold in Thailand and the remaining 2.3 million elsewhere,” he says, adding that the company sold 3.7 million handsets last year.

Since its launch four years ago, the company has sold over 10 million handsets. It currently has more than 600 outlets in Thailand.

Thawee Udomkitchote, managing director of Samart subsidiary I-Mobile International Company Limited says the company focuses on three areas to attract customers – pre-use, during use and post-use.

“We always ensure that our products are of the highest quality and provide great value for money,” he says, adding that it will continue to invest in research and development.

The company provides free download services in its i-mobile shop to create customer loyalty.

“Superior image, sound and screen technologies are chosen for the latest models that provide all in-demand functions for its customers. We also provide replacement warranty, trade-in promotion and loyalty member club for our customer in Thailand,” he says.

Udomkitchote says Indonesia is a big market for i-mobile and it has targeted to sell one million handsets this year.

“We plan to expand our network of distributors in Indonesia this year as its current distribution network is only available at certain points there,” he says.

The company sold more than 500,000 handsets in Indonesia last year. It has 150 active dealers, 25 i-mobile shops and 65 points of services in the market.

For its Bangladesh business, Udomkitchote says the company would like to reposition its products portfolio to focus on the replacement market instead of the entry-level market, adding that this will increase average revenue per user.

On its Malaysian business, I-Mobile International general manager Phanthep Chatnarat says the company intends to expand its i-mobile shops in Malaysia to 50 from 24 currently this year through a franchise model.

The company has 500 dealers and 180 points of services in Malaysia.

He says financial institutions and corporate markets are other areas that the company will put more focus in.

“We plan to launch smartphones, 3G and 3.5G phones and data devices by the third quarter of this year,” Chatnarat says.

He says TV and dual SIM card phones are doing very well in Malaysia and comprised about 40% of its portfolio last year.

According to him, about 160,000 i-mobile handsets were sold in Malaysia last year. It currently holds between 3% and 4% share of the mobile phone market in Malaysia.

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