Poco X5 Pro launch: Company betting big on ‘lean’ smartphone lineup in 2023, says India head Himanshu Tandon – Times of India

Smartphone shipments in India registered a decline in 2022 but is forecast to witness a marginal rise in 2023, market research firms recently said. Xiaomi sub-brand Poco which, like all other OEMs, was plagued by weakening demand, is looking to seize this opportunity to increase its user base in the country. Himanshu Tandon, Country Head, POCO India, has said that the company will stick to a lean smartphone portfolio and adopt different market strategies to achieve its ‘significant growth targets’.
“We have very high aspirations in 2023 and are taking significant growth targets this year to match with overall group aspirations. Last year was a little bit bumpy with regard to some fluctuations in the dollar-to-rupee rate, weak demand and inflation. But this time, we are sticking to our lean and mean portfolio to increase our base,” Tandon told TOI Gadgets Now in an interview.

Indian smartphone shipment decline in 2022
Tandon’s comments came after market research firms reported that Xiaomi lost its top position in the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4 2022).
Canalys said that Xiaomi grabbed the third spot with shipments of 5.5 million units losing its leadership position in Q4 2022 after 20 quarters on the top spot. However, for 2022, Xiaomi was still the number one smartphone vendor.
Canalys noted that Samsung, which topped the Q4 2022 shipments, changed strategies and refreshed its smartphone lineup in India which helped it regain the pole position for the first time since Q3 2017.
A report by Counterpoint research echoed the numbers saying that the Chinese company Xiaomi (including Poco) slipped to third place in Q4 2022 but held the top spot with a 24% YoY decline.
The executive also said that, from a marketing perspective, the company will also try a lot of different things to increase its base in the market. Poco recently announced that it signed Hardik Pandya as a brand ambassador. “This is us making a statement into the market that we are serious about this business,” Tandon added.

Exploring offline channels
Part of the company’s marketing strategy in 2023 is exploring more channels to reach customers. Tandon said that Poco has a strong online presence and is open to exploring offline channels to increase market share. “We are the number two brand on Flipkart, which is around 60-65% of the online market on the platform. We might also explore offline to expand our base to hit our growth aspirations from an overall company perspective,” Tandon noted.
Reaching the right target audience
Recently, Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president, IDC India said that Xiaomi is launching anything, anywhere. “The consumers, because they are confused by the portfolio, are migrating to rival brands,” Singh told The Economic Times. Xiaomi India president Muralikrishnan B also said that the company wants to create a leaner portfolio for 2023.
When asked how Poco differentiates from Redmi when it comes to cannibalisation owing to products in similar market share, Tandon said Poco’s target audience is Gen-Z – customers who are between the ages of 18-24 years “who are rebellious.” Furthermore, Poco believes in a philosophy of price-to-performance.

Poco X5 Pro specifications
Poco has started to tease the launch of the X5 Pro smartphone in India. When asked about the launch date of the company’s next phone, Tandon declined to share that information but said that Poco X5 Pro will have a ‘very powerful chipset’ at ‘that’ price point.
When asked about the specifications, the executive did share some information. “The USP of the upcoming Poco X5 Pro will be a 778G SoC, 108MP main camera, and a 5,000mAh battery, among others,” said Tandon. “Also, Poco X5 Pro will also be the first smartphone from Xiaomi to get MIUI 14 out-of-the-box,” he added.
Tandon did not share other information about the smartphone. The company recently announced that Poco X5 Pro will launch in India on February 6. It will be available on Flipkart, the company announced via a tweet. Teasers shared by the company suggest that the phone will have the “Poco OG” (Yellow colour) variant with Black chassis.