Apple eyes Rs 1,000 crore from iPhone 5S sales in India in Q3

Apple is also looking to tap the 6-lakh owners of the iPhone 4 to trade up to the new model, currently the costliest smartphone in India at Rs 53,500.

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KOLKATA | NEW DELHI: Encouraged by the popularity of the iPhone 5s in India, Apple has targeted Rs 1,000 crore from sales of the handset this quarter, which will make it one of the most successful smartphone launches in the country and in line with that of devices such as the Galaxy S series of phones made by market leader Samsung.

The goal is about twice the sales of the iPhone 5 in the year-ago quarter, which made Apple the second-largest smartphone vendor in India by value after Samsung.

Apple is also looking to tap the 6-lakh owners of the iPhone 4 to trade up to the new model, currently the costliest smartphone in India at Rs 53,500 for the 16GB unit, Rs 62,500 for the 32GB one and Rs 71,500 for the 64GB handset.

It has also launched its biggest advertising campaign ever in India, estimated at around Rs 25 crore, for the iPhone 5s and 5c in partnership with distributors Redington and Ingram Micro, along with telecom partners Reliance CommunicationsBSE -1.40 % and Bharti AirtelBSE -0.96 %.

Apple has less than two months to sell about 2 lakh new phones to meet its target and has sought fresh supplies of the 5s, reportedly sold out after its November 1 launch in relatively sparse numbers, according to three senior executives at Apple's trade partners in India. They didn't want to be identified. "Apple is aware its iPhone 5s has become an instant hit," said one of those cited above.

The iPhone 5c, with a plastic body, is priced at Rs 41,900 for the 16GB model and Rs 53,500 for the 32GB one. The Cupertino, Californiabased company is seeking to gain market share in India, the world's biggest market for mobile phones after China, which it neglected until about a year ago when it began trying to push its products with installment plans and other programmes.

It's also concerned that this has allowed companies such as Samsung to take advantage of the vacuum created by Nokia's weakening presence to gain a dominating lead in the marketplace, with an added edge provided by the launch of products such as the new Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch.

NAME-SHYAM KISHOR SINGH
              PGDM-1sem

Apple eyes Rs 1,000 crore from iPhone 5S sales in India in Q3

By Writankar Mukherjee & Shambhavi Anand, ET Bureau | 11 Nov, 2013, 10.05AM IS

Apple is also looking to tap the 6-lakh owners of the iPhone 4 to trade up to the new model, currently the costliest smartphone in India at Rs 53,500.

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KOLKATA | NEW DELHI: Encouraged by the popularity of the iPhone 5s in India, Apple has targeted Rs 1,000 crore from sales of the handset this quarter, which will make it one of the most successful smartphone launches in the country and in line with that of devices such as the Galaxy S series of phones made by market leader Samsung.

The goal is about twice the sales of the iPhone 5 in the year-ago quarter, which made Apple the second-largest smartphone vendor in India by value after Samsung.

Apple is also looking to tap the 6-lakh owners of the iPhone 4 to trade up to the new model, currently the costliest smartphone in India at Rs 53,500 for the 16GB unit, Rs 62,500 for the 32GB one and Rs 71,500 for the 64GB handset.

It has also launched its biggest advertising campaign ever in India, estimated at around Rs 25 crore, for the iPhone 5s and 5c in partnership with distributors Redington and Ingram Micro, along with telecom partners Reliance CommunicationsBSE -0.86 % and Bharti AirtelBSE -0.77 %.

Apple has less than two months to sell about 2 lakh new phones to meet its target and has sought fresh supplies of the 5s, reportedly sold out after its November 1 launch in relatively sparse numbers, according to three senior executives at Apple's trade partners in India. They didn't want to be identified. "Apple is aware its iPhone 5s has become an instant hit," said one of those cited above.

The iPhone 5c, with a plastic body, is priced at Rs 41,900 for the 16GB model and Rs 53,500 for the 32GB one. The Cupertino, Californiabased company is seeking to gain market share in India, the world's biggest market for mobile phones after China, which it neglected until about a year ago when it began trying to push its products with installment plans and other programmes.

It's also concerned that this has allowed companies such as Samsung to take advantage of the vacuum created by Nokia's weakening presence to gain a dominating lead in the marketplace, with an added edge provided by the launch of products such as the new Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch.



vijay kr yadav
pgdm sem-1
sou- times of india

Mobile banking gains momentum: monthly deals up 150% in 2013

11 Nov 2013 01:01,

There are more people using mobile phones than bank accounts in India. Mobile banking is gaining momentum as banking transactions by customers grew by 150% to Rs. 1,566 crore in September from Rs. 625 crore in January this year. "Sharp rise in the use of smartphones and tablets has worked in favour of mobile banking," said Rajiv Anand, president-retail banking, Axis Bank. "Smartphones and various banking apps (software applications) have made mobile banking simpler and safer for customers." Total number of transactions grew by 29% to 7,169,429 in September from 5,554,327 in January 2013, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Mobile banking is comparatively a new phenomenon in India as it started in 2000 when HDFC Bank became the first bank to launch mobile banking. Initially, banks did not see much transactions but a big shift happened with the advent of smartphones. Though, smartphones are now generating major traffic on mobile banking, banking transactions

can also be done on basic phones. "Prices of smartphones have fallen significantly in the last few years and interned data charges have also declined, which has prompted customers to use mobile for banking transactions," said Rajeeb Chatterjee, head mobile banking and ATM, HDFC Bank. According to banks, customers in the urban areas are the major users of mobile banking. "It is just the beginning. Mobile banking is set to witness a rapid growth in future with rise in the use of smartphones," said Chatterjee. At present, private banks are major players in the mobile banking space. ICICI Bank saw Rs. 389 crore mobile transactions during September while HDFC Bank saw Rs. 347 crore transactions in the same month.

                                                                                                            NAME-
                                                                                      SARVESH KUMAR SINGH
                                                                                                 PGDM 1st SEM

United Breweries posts Q2 loss of Rs.18.57 cr

United Breweries, which controls more than half of India’s beer market, said volumes fell 2% in the first half of the year. Photo: Mint

Bangalore: United Breweries Ltd, the maker of Kingfisher beer, swung to a loss in the second quarter because of a surprise drop in sales and higher sales promotion costs.

United Breweries on Thursday reported a loss of Rs.18.57 crore for the quarter ended 30 September, compared with a profit of Rs.34.20 crore in the year-ago period.

The company’s quarterly sales fell, for the first time in several years, by 1.5% to Rs.845.38 crore due to a wetter-than-usual monsoon, price increases and continued market share losses in Tamil Nadu, where the government is promoting local brands ahead of other brewers.

United Breweries, which controls more than half of India’s beer market, said volumes fell 2% in the first half of the year. The company, however, said that it had maintained its market share despite losing ground in Tamil Nadu.

“These are a pretty dismal set of numbers,” said Nitin Mathur, an analyst at Espirito Santo Securities India Pvt. Ltd.

“Price increases in the current economic environment were bound to hit demand and on top of that, the monsoon was prolonged—it’s clearly showed in their results. I don’t expect much of an improvement in the second half of the year as well. The market will drastically cut its (profit) estimates on the company.”

This year, sales growth for India’s brewers, long used to volume increases of over 10%, has dropped significantly. In the year ended March, brewers sold 265-270 million cases (of 7.8 litres each) of beer in India.

In October, India’s second-largest brewer SabMiller India Ltd, the maker of Foster’s and Haywards beer, also reported a drop in beer volumes for the first time in over three years and said revenue for the six months to 30 September rose just 1%.

United Breweries and Sabmiller are also facing increased competition from Carlsberg which has launched successful products such as Tuborg and its namesake beer over the past few years.

Mint reported on 27 October that India’s brewers have increased spending on promotions to stimulate weak demand.

Sales promotion expenses at United Breweries rose nearly 18% to Rs.176.91 crore in the quarter.

Shares of Vijay Mallya-promoted United Breweries fell 5.26% to Rs.821.50 on Thursday on the BSE.

PINTU KUMAR OJHA 

PGDM 035

Tata Coffee posts Rs 12.88-cr loss in Q2

Tata Coffee has reported a net loss of Rs 12.88 crore on a consolidated basis for the second quarter of 2013-14 compared with a net profit of Rs 36.84 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company attributes the loss to exceptional items which include a full provision of Rs 90.86 crore against an investment made by Consolidated Coffee Inc (CCI), the US subsidiary, in a new line of business. The net impact on consolidated net profit in this quarter for Tata Coffee after adjusting for the share attributable to other investors in CCI is Rs 46 crore.

Total income from operations is lower by 1.71 per cent to Rs 469.5 crore in Q2 against Rs 477.7crore during the corresponding period last year. Earnings per share stood at Rs 6.90 (Rs 19.72).

According to Hameed Huq, Managing Director, “The company’s focus on value addition and superior offerings for the last 12 to 15 years has being paying off. The premium offering has neutralised the fall in global prices of robusta and arabica.” “This year pepper prices has come to our rescue and contributed significantly to our profits,” he added.

Segment revenues: Coffee and other produce reported a revenue of Rs 442.2 crore (last year Rs 450.65 crore), tea Rs 16.66 crore (Rs 17.26 crore), estate supplies division Rs 11.52 crore (Rs 13.93 crore) and others Rs 1.81 crore (Rs 1.96 crore).

The company’s US subsidiary Eight O Clock Coffee’s (EOC) has recorded a total income of $94.18 million against $104.63 million in the previous year. On account of favourable commodity price and lower interest cost, EOC’s operating profit was at $17 million against $12.67 million in the corresponding period last year.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated November 8, 2013) 

 

MD JAVED ALAM

PGDN 3rd sem

United Breweries posts Q2 loss of Rs.18.57 cr

United Breweries, which controls more than half of India’s beer market, said volumes fell 2% in the first half of the year. Photo: Mint

Bangalore: United Breweries Ltd, the maker of Kingfisher beer, swung to a loss in the second quarter because of a surprise drop in sales and higher sales promotion costs.

United Breweries on Thursday reported a loss of Rs.18.57 crore for the quarter ended 30 September, compared with a profit of Rs.34.20 crore in the year-ago period.

The company’s quarterly sales fell, for the first time in several years, by 1.5% to Rs.845.38 crore due to a wetter-than-usual monsoon, price increases and continued market share losses in Tamil Nadu, where the government is promoting local brands ahead of other brewers.

United Breweries, which controls more than half of India’s beer market, said volumes fell 2% in the first half of the year. The company, however, said that it had maintained its market share despite losing ground in Tamil Nadu.

“These are a pretty dismal set of numbers,” said Nitin Mathur, an analyst at Espirito Santo Securities India Pvt. Ltd.

“Price increases in the current economic environment were bound to hit demand and on top of that, the monsoon was prolonged—it’s clearly showed in their results. I don’t expect much of an improvement in the second half of the year as well. The market will drastically cut its (profit) estimates on the company.”

This year, sales growth for India’s brewers, long used to volume increases of over 10%, has dropped significantly. In the year ended March, brewers sold 265-270 million cases (of 7.8 litres each) of beer in India.

In October, India’s second-largest brewer SabMiller India Ltd, the maker of Foster’s and Haywards beer, also reported a drop in beer volumes for the first time in over three years and said revenue for the six months to 30 September rose just 1%.

United Breweries and Sabmiller are also facing increased competition from Carlsberg which has launched successful products such as Tuborg and its namesake beer over the past few years.

Mint reported on 27 October that India’s brewers have increased spending on promotions to stimulate weak demand.

Sales promotion expenses at United Breweries rose nearly 18% to Rs.176.91 crore in the quarter.

Shares of Vijay Mallya-promoted United Breweries fell 5.26% to Rs.821.50 on Thursday on the BSE.

Government may soon make car recall mandatory for vehicles with manufacturing defects

NEW DELHI: Vehicle buyers in India seeking a guarantee for their purchase would soon get one as the government is in the final phase of framing a 'mandatory recall policy' for vehicles with manufacturing defects or technical flaws.

The move follows India's largest ever recall of 1.14 lakh Tavera multi-purpose vehicles by GM, recently. Over 3 lakh cars (over 10% of total vehicles manufactured in India a year) were recalled in the country for various technical defaults in the past one year by companies including Ford, Honda, Renault and Nissan. This is almost five times the number of vehicles recalled in developed markets.

Pune-based testing agency Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) will draft the provisions for recall of vehicles on various safety and technical parameters.

"There has been a need to broaden the perspective of recall to bring in best global practices ... followed in the US, Europe or Japan.

We have asked ARAI to develop a standard recall policy for all vehicles that would be framed under the relevant motor vehicles rules and enforced," said Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary in the ministry of heavy industries.

The serious flaw in emission norms, which forced GM to call back over 1 lakh Tavera MPVs, went unnoticed for over eight years. The vehicles were made in Indian factories. This incident came as wake-up call for the government.

"There is need for a mechanism to plug loopholes in the system. A clear policy would define the scope and give more teeth to the government agencies for stricter compliance in automotive manufacturing," Sharma said.
Analysts tracking the industry say the time has come to frame broader guidelines on the sensitive issue of recall. "It would help protect consumer interest. India is now a mature market and if there is a defect caused by slack design or poor manufacturing, then the manufacturer should be held accountable for that," said Rakesh Batra, national leader of the automotive sector at EY India, a global consultancy.

The recall policy under preparation will have stringent provisions including financial penalty and will cover all registered vehicles like passenger cars, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. 

 

ABDUL WAHEED

PGDM 3rd SEM.