“MediaTek’s focus in India, over the coming years, will revolve around 5G”

HomeIn-Focus“MediaTek’s focus in India, over the coming years, will revolve around 5G”

MediaTek has solidified its position like never before and is taken very seriously by consumers as a key feature in their smartphones. Anuj Sidharth, Deputy Director, Marketing and Communications, MediaTek, shares more about the brand’s success story, in an interview with My Mobile. Excerpts:

MediaTek has gained a very strong foothold in India, as smartphone consumers now take it seriously as a brand. How do you see things shaping up for MediaTek from marketing point of view?

MediaTek surely gained a lot of foothold in India and it is indeed heartening to see the rapidly growing positive consumer sentiment and acceptance for MediaTek in India. As such, it is also an exciting time for us as marketers. MediaTek’s core objective is innovation aimed at accelerating digital transformation globally. The brand building initiatives focus on highlighting these innovations and ROIs and making the OEMs/ODMs aware on how it can improve the brand’s value in terms of performance and customer satisfaction. Today, consumers are aware of the latest and upcoming technology advancements, so there is always a quest for the best. MediaTek is helping OEMs integrate new-age advanced technologies in order to deliver incredible experiences across product categories.

For example, the latest flagship MediaTek Dimensity 9000 and Dimensity 8000 series chipsets have emerged as one of the most anticipated products in the market. One of the noteworthy aspects of MediaTek’s latest products is that they also provide OEMs with the option to customize and build-on specific capabilities like MediaTek Dimensity 5G Open Resource Architecture, camera and multimedia capabilities among others. All of these have contributed to the growing demand and preference for MediaTek products and solutions across a cross-section of device makers today.

Going forward, we see huge opportunities around 5G smartphone innovations in India. We have collaborated with both local and global manufacturers to bring MediaTek’s innovations into the market. As the preferred choice SoC supplier for OEMs in India, MediaTek shoulders greater responsibility to serve them even better in the 5G era, across all device segments, not just smartphones. MediaTek’s core philosophy is to enable technology democratization; and in a diverse demographic like India and especially in the current post-pandemic digital era, this philosophy gains much relevance. We are committed to address this demand and be part of the larger mission to empower societies through digital enablement.

“MediaTek’s core philosophy is to enable technology democratization; and in a diverse demographic like India and especially in the current post-pandemic digital era, this philosophy gains much relevance”

How MediaTek’s market share has been growing over the past few years?

Globally MediaTek has been ranked the No.1 smartphone chips provider since 2020. As per the latest report by Counterpoint Research, we have grabbed 33% share of the global smartphone SoC market in Q4 2021. We have also retained the market leadership as the No. 1 chipset provider for voice assistant devices (VADs), smart TVs and more.

We have witnessed steady growth in India as well, for both our MediaTek Helio 4G and MediaTek Dimensity 5G chipsets. Our focus on mid-tier and premium segment, has helped us gain wider acceptance here.  Another major area of growth is the gaming segment. Both our MediaTek Helio G series and MediaTek Dimensity 5G series chipsets are equipped with the latest MediaTek HyperEngine Gaming Technologies which help us stand out amongst game enthusiasts. Coming to 5G smartphones, even before the launch of 5G, MediaTek Dimensity 5G chipsets have acquired a major share of the total market. As the government has announced the 5G launch plans, we expect the demand will rise even more in the coming months. We are prepared for that and hope to capitalize further on our growing market share.

Tell us about your latest marketing initiatives and campaigns that are solidifying MediaTek’s position in India as well as across the globe.

MediaTek has been constantly engaging with OEMs/ODMs through a series of brand building initiatives. Last year, we launched several campaigns to educate end-users about the major innovations across our product line. The popular marketing tagline ‘Incredible In, Incredible Out’ is trending across 5G smartphone segment by reiterating that the innovations we put in our Dimensity 5G chipsets shapes the incredible experiences delivered by the 5G devices. Similarly, our latest marketing tagline ‘Rise to Incredible’ reconfirms our commitment to enrich the lives of end-users with incredible flagship smartphone experiences powered by our latest flagship chipsets such as the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 and 8000/8100.

In India, we are largely focusing on the technology democratization, as we believe that will create a sweeping impact across the communities in India. In the current competitive business landscape, it is important to capture the attention of consumers by educating retailers and end-consumers by providing a truly engaging content experience by leveraging OTT platforms, Mobile Van Roadshows, OOH billboards among others. We also reach out to OEMs and the media through MediaTek Technology Diaries, an interactive platform which brings together industry leaders, OEMs, media, analysts and KOLs under a single platform to discuss and showcase the latest developments in the technology ecosystem.

Another initiative we have undertaken is the ‘Gaming Masters e-sports tournament’, launched in association with Jio eSports. It is a perfect example of our efforts towards engaging the smartphone gaming community in India.

We have also created online marketplaces across popular e-commerce platforms to foster awareness about our latest innovations, as well as the latest products built by them. These brand stores feature product portfolio, features, advantages, user reviews, technical specifications, etc.

“Our latest marketing tagline ‘Rise to Incredible’ reconfirms our commitment to enrich the lives of end-users with incredible flagship smartphone experiences powered by our latest flagship chipsets such as the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 and 8000/8100”

Can you please share some light on MediaTek’s strategies in India for 2022-23 which are going to be very crucial years, especially in terms of transition in adopting 5G-enabled devices?

As mentioned above, MediaTek’s focus in India, over the coming years, will revolve around 5G, given the huge demand in the segment. According to a recent GfK report, India’s 5G smartphone demand is expected to be more than triple in 2022, accounting for 40% of sales volume compared to 12% in 2021. During 2022-23, our marketing strategies will focus largely on the flagship 5G smartphone segment, in line with our aim – Rise to Incredible – which will, ultimately, lead to enhanced capabilities and advancements in camera, display, processor, energy efficiency, and network performance.

We have a strong existing 5G portfolio which takes care of the 5G demand in India across segments. While we recently launched the flagship MediaTek Dimensity 9000 and MediaTek Dimensity 8000 series, some of our existing popular 5G chipsets in India include the MediaTek Dimensity 1200, 920, 900, 810, 800U 700 to name a few. We are also deeply exploring innovations across the latest technology advancements like AI and IoT, which ultimately aims to bring more power into the hands of customers. Among smart devices, smart TVs, voice assistants, audio players, tablet PCs, and wireless connectivity devices are some of the areas we are currently focusing on.

“During 2022-23, our marketing strategies will focus largely on the flagship 5G smartphone segment, in line with our aim – Rise to Incredible – which will, ultimately, lead to enhanced capabilities and advancements in camera, display, processor, energy efficiency, and network performance”

What are the key trends and focus areas you see in the Marketing industry?

One of the major trends that we see in Marketing is the swift transition to the omni-channel model and almost every industry is now embarking on this journey. Thus, every marketing activity today is aimed at building a real connection with the consumers and success is based on the conversions, like an on-the-spot purchase, an email interaction, AI-based marketing, a direct message or download of a whitepaper, and the ultimate goal is to build brand loyalty. Indeed, brand loyalty and staying relevant are now more important than ever and MediaTek is taking all possible efforts to ensure the consumers know we care about and listen to them. We are a customer-focused organization and we offer them exactly what they need, thus cementing our position in the market.

One of the advantages of digital media is that the outcomes can be measured with better accuracy. An omni-channel approach is imperative to ensure we are exactly where the users need us. The objective is to be omni-present and our efforts are aimed in this direction. For instance, we have leveraged mobile vans and out of home advertising plans, in addition to digital media, to drive retail education and proactively reach our end consumers.

In a tech-driven world, everything revolves around omni-channel content, be it text, audio, video, images or live interactions. With this understanding, we have designed a 360-degree content strategy encompassing the entire realm of content, including emails, newsletters, blogs, website content, press releases, social media, online & print media, and product-specific flyers and fact sheets. While we continue to focus on these, we also realize that there is a need to constantly evolve so that we can stay differentiated. We will be seeking new ways to achieve better results, by incorporating the latest technologies and also improvising on strategies to expand the community and drive successful outcomes.

Also Read: “India is a key focus region for MediaTek”

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