New | Pepsi tipped to corner less than 1 per cent of China's smartphone market after launch of branded handset
Firm explores new avenues for brand promotion as it brings Android-powered Pepsi P1 phone into a market where sales are slowing
Global beverage and snacks giant PepsiCo is expected to corner a small, but potentially important, niche in mainland China’s smartphone market after the launch of its first branded Android handset there next week.
“We forecast Pepsi to capture less than 1 per cent of China’s smartphone market in 2016,” Neil Mawston, executive director for global wireless practice at technology consultancy Strategy Analytics, told the South China Morning Post.
New York-based PepsiCo, which runs about 14 food and beverage brands that each generate over US$1 billion in annual sales, plans to unveil its “Pepsi P1” smartphone in Beijing on Tuesday. The expected retail price is US$205.
“PepsiCo is exploring new avenues for brand promotion with smartphones ... and reaching out to younger Chinese consumers who are more likely to drink Pepsi Cola,” Mawston said.
Technology research firm IDC has forecast a slight growth in total smartphone sales in mainland China this year to about 424 million units, up from 420 million last year, amid a slowdown in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Even if the market remains sluggish next year, a less than 1 per cent niche for the Pepsi P1 could potentially amount to sales of about one million units in a highly competitive industry.