The Gionee strategy

During the launch of Gionee M7 Power, David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee India mentioned that their growth as a brand had three primary features:

Ensuring patronage from new users
Attracting those who yearned for smarter devices
Adding on to superior quality and seamless experience

Sitting there, I thought this was a fair strategy as a lot of smartphone companies were content to be ‘just competing’ and attempting to sell the same features under a different sounding nomenclature. Quite obviously I knew that the phone would still look like a reasonably smart device with lots of people describing it as a sleek, good to look at, sturdy one that managed to do all the things that a normal user would want from his smartphone.

Gionee M7 Power is strategically at the right price point

So the moment I had the device in my hands, I began looking for at least one feature that would make it stand out… and sooner than I expected I discovered it in the camera. Though only after I realized that the Gionee M7 Power had a full view infinity display. Now this isn’t exactly new now as a few premium devices have adopted this. Yet, for a smartphone that costs just INR 16,999/- this certainly adds to its value. A 5000 mAh battery powered by an intelligent management system that effectively controls the power system within, a 4GB RAM and a 64GB ROM with ability to multi-task without latency, an 85% of higher screen-to-body ratio, and a 13MP rear F2.0 camera and 8MP front camera were all excellent value for money. But what a buyer must know is that this phone comes with Gorilla Glass 3 on the front side, which makes it a fairly safer device in the hands of users who are perpetually afraid of landing with a shattered screen and then moaning about it forever.

However, none of these are what I actually want to talk about as a real deal clincher. Of course, the phone comes in three striking color options, i.e. Blue, Gold and Black and is available across all retail stores in India, the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Octa-core Processor offers a basic frequency of up to 1.4GHz, and the 4GB RAM ensures smooth and glitch-free operations. But no, these are all things that users now have come to expect in a brand that has ambitions to be featured among the top 5 this year.

The interesting part is that in my quest to find one distinguishable feature, I actually stumbled on to three… and the first has to do with the camera. Yes, the camera does take sharp pictures even in low light, has a powerful front camera with advanced software algorithms for absorbing selfies, gives an adequate bokeh effect if the user wants, has the ability to click panoramas, read text with a fair accuracy, scan cards reasonably truthfully, and even give a range of filters… but what I loved was the élan with which it enabled 3D shots. A pile of books is just that in a flat shot… but a 3D vision enabled takes you all around the pile and even over it. Imagine the smile and disbelief on the face of those who look at a 3D picture and you’ll know why I fell in love with this feature.

Just as I was relishing this joy of watching a 3D shot, I discovered that the phone at this price point has an app lock for user security. The Private Space 2.0 uses multi-function fingerprint identification for a quick send-off of sensitive material into a safe haven. Of course, the fingerprint scanner can do a lot more than guard files and pictures… it can activate the camera shutter, turn on the torch, and also begin recoding audio input.

The third feature that gives the phone a better start is its Whatsapp clone feature that allows users to create three Whatsapp accounts. All credit to Amigo 5.0 that is embedded in the phone though this is one thing that would only drag me deeper into the social media quagmire and I really don’t have enough time for it. Though I understand a lot of users would be ecstatic.

This smartphone has other obvious features that we are now accustomed to, for instance, the possibility of a split screen though splits aren’t possible with every app that one uses. The blue light function for those who insist upon reading long texts and ebooks on their phone helps. Gionee calls this their intelligent eye protection but I would any day prefer reading real printed books that I hold in my hands and not even on my Kindle Paperwhite.

So yes, Gionee does have a sound strategic base for marketing the right kind of device at the right price point and probably do their homework of understanding users rather well. I am not surprised at all to find David Chang mentioning that they have ‘strategically decided to tap on its power to create smart products which are loaded with exclusive features, especially customized and localized for our growing consumer base in India.’ Well, Indian consumers have their own set of likes and dislikes and it is good to know Gionee understands it all.