Mr. Benjamin Jiang is currently the Managing Director of Infinix Mobile. He has held this position since joining TRANSSION Holdings, the parent company of Infinix Mobile, from April 2012. He is now leading Infinix’s brand and market development.
Under his leadership, Infinix has become Africa’s leading smartphone brand, both in retail and e-commerce platforms. He has paved the way into new markets such as South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America. With a successful and strong market presence in Pakistan since 2013, the brand has made a huge success and has become one of the most used smartphones in the mid-range category.
Mr. Jiang has shared some important insights, ongoing progress report, current challenges and future plans that Infinix intends to implement in the coming year.
How would you narrate the success history of Infinix Mobile in Pakistan in such a short span?
Infinix, as a leading global brand, focuses on delivering stylish and innovative smartphone devices to the young generations globally. Through our products, we hope that young consumers will be enabled to show the world who they really are and pursue their own dreams. From our research, we understand that young consumers in Pakistan always go for something unique and out of the box.
Infinix fulfills the demands of its users by producing quality products that give modernistic experience to the youth. With its exciting and engaging campaigns on social media, Infinix has managed to connect with its consumers on an emotional level. By producing catchy concepts and thrilling beats, the brand has set an undying trend of having a strong social media presence throughout the year.
People have actively participated in these campaigns and with time, the market has changed tremendously and people tend to buy these budgeted phones that give exceptional services and specifications while keeping them fashionably upgraded.
A team needs to galvanize together to shore up innovation, how do you think, people working as a team here have impacted the sales graph in Pakistan?
“Future is Now” is our company’s core value, with this statement we believe that bringing the latest technology to our audience is one of our core responsibilities. We always endeavor for the satisfaction of our shareholders, business partners as well as our consumers through transparent and effective management system as well as consistent self-renovation.
With the value “Future is Now”, we work closely with our local business partners to ensure success. The enthusiastic team in Pakistan has helped us break the mainstream trends to get into the list of the most used phone around the country.
When you initially launched, what was your target audience and what change have you experienced since then in terms of innovation, budget, and target market?
Infinix is specially designed for the young generation, providing cutting-edge technology paired with bold and stylish designs at affordable pricing points to keep our consumers on-trend and up-to-date. When we entered the Pakistani market, we had a consistent commitment to Pakistani young consumers who are keen to enjoy innovative technologies and experience intelligent lifestyles.
We launched Infinix Hot Note and our flagship series model Zero 2 as our first devices in Pakistan, which were initially launched as online exclusive but due to intense public demand, we decided to release it in the offline market. Since then with all the love and support we received from Pakistan, Infinix has become one of the persisting brands which are ranked amongst the top used phones in the country.
The year 2019 has proved to be one of the best years for Infinix as we launched our star models i.e. Smart 3, S4, Hot 8 and the very latest and much admired S5 series which has given us immense success in terms of record-breaking sales numbers.
How do you think the launch in Pakistan has made a difference from the rest of the countries where Infinix is being exported?
Infinix, with its admirable and novel inventions, has caught the big chunk of the market. People prefer using these phones for the quality they promise and deliver. Considering the economic condition, people are inclined towards the phones having the latest features at an affordable price.
In Pakistan, we have adopted global practices that help us build a better market place where the consumers are more aware of what they receive in terms of the latest technology. We are constantly working with local influencers and thought leaders to ensure knowledge sharing for the consumers, enabling them to spread awareness about the latest technology that is available with Infinix and how they can make the most of it.
What are your plans for 2020 to cater to your customers?
Smartphones have become an integral part of the majority of Gen Z’s life nowadays. Research published by a digital marketing organization media kit shows that the Gen Z population is estimated to reach 2.56 billion globally by 2020. Among which, 98% own a smartphone.
Based on a GlobalWebIndex study, providing innovative new products and ideas as well as making you feel cool/trendy are among the top five priorities for Gen Z speaking of what they expect from the brands nowadays. Such findings are in line with Infinix’s observations and insights of Pakistani youth.
With a commitment to the youth, we are constantly taking customer feedback that enables us to provide innovative smartphone devices with most sought after features. For 2020 we strive to follow our promise of delivering the latest technology to our customers conveniently. Apart from the product, this year we are looking to create a deeper connection with our audience by engaging them in meaningful conversations that resonate with their passion.
What is the major challenge you are facing because there is still a strong lobby of some mainstream brands in Pakistan?
Indeed, there are many market challenges for a brand to keep continuous progress both internally and externally. We also think external competition is a good approach to prompt the market’s quick development as a whole and contribute to consumer benefits.
For us, we mainly focus on ourselves on how to keep abreast of the constantly changing market landscape, trends, and consumer demands. We invest continuously to understand the local consumers in a better way and intend to bring more innovative technologies at a favorable price with easy accessibility.
How successful are you in changing the perspective of mobile users in terms of breaking the pigeonholes of using only the mainstream smartphone brands?
Nowadays, young consumers are quite informed of their individual demand and they have a strong expectation of the kind of phone to own within a given budget. Infinix has a unique value proposition to encourage young consumers to be who they really are, to pursue their dreams, and to achieve their future through today’s efforts. Our brand value resonates with local young consumers very much. We have received positive feedback from our partners as well as the local consumer.
Currently, our target audience is increasing at a rapid rate and people prefer phones that deliver high-quality tech and good value for money.
How do you think budget-friendly phones can impact the economy in Pakistan and what sets you aside in contributing to the development of our country?
According to local reports, Pakistan’s IT and telecommunication market has great potential, and the subscribers of mobile phones are over 161 million. The 3G and 4G mobile subscribers are also increasing steadily. Besides, it’s reported that the government has removed the Telephone industry of Pakistan (TIP) from the privatization list and is planning to boost the development of the mobile phone market with private business sectors.
As digitalization, mobile networking, and internet service are contributing more to the global economy’s development as well as a country’s societal and economic growth, we are glad to have the opportunity to play a certain role to contribute to the mobile device and mobile networking industry’s development in Pakistan.
Infinix is dedicated to the consumer in the emerging market, enabling them to experience the most revolutionary technologies and trendy designs at favorable and accessible pricing points. By doing so, we are glad to see more and more consumers will be empowered to enjoy a connected life.
What are your plans in terms of offering something better and different from the rest of the smartphone brands in Pakistan?
With New Year, Infinix plans to bring new versions of its phones that are more attractive to the youth and are full of modern additions. More refined cameras, bigger and better screens, lightweight phones, long time battery, spacious memory and up-to-date designs will be the most highlighted features in the next launches.
Q1 of 2020 will be the most surprising for the camera lovers and Infinix will be introducing Pop-Up selfie camera phones with mind-blowing tech innovations. The biggest differential between any other smartphone brand and Infinix is that now, Infinix is the only brand that has set up local manufacturing, which in turn not only provides Pakistan with the latest technology in phones but is also contributing to the skill development of locals and creating jobs.
