Targeting a niche market and thinking differently may be two survival tips for domestic smartphone makers facing intense competition.
Chinese Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer Gionee unveiled two M series flagships on Tuesday, presenting handsets equipped with built-in security encryption chips and dual charging chips to attract business users.
"Brand differentiation is the trend and also the core-competitiveness for Chinese smartphone companies to stand out in the market," said Liu Lirong, chairman and president of Gionee Communication Equipment Co Ltd. "By targeting business users who prefer to use handsets with long battery life and efficient privacy protection features, we invented the new M6 and M6 Plus to meet the pain points of our consumers."
Both phones have a physical encrypted chip to secure users' personal data.
"The private line function of M6 and M6 Plus are able to automatically block information sent from pseudo base stations and encrypt contents of calls and SMSs", said William Lu, president of Gionee India.
The M6 ships with a 5000mAh battery and the M6 Plus packs with a 6020mAh battery. Both have 9V/2A fast charging support with a dual charging chip.
By embeding with low power consumption components, including power-efficient displays and chips, and also the smart power consumption management software operated under Android Marshmallow with Amigo OS 3.2 on top, the company promised the M6 Plus could be continually used for two days without being charged.
Both phones are equipped with infrared sensors on top, but the M6 Plus doesn't provide the frequently used 3.5mm audio jack.
Priced from 2,699 yuan and 2,999 yuan, respectively, the M6 will start shipping on August 6, while the M6 Plus will come later, on August 13.
Both handsets will be also launched in India next month.
Since 2011, the Gionee brand has been moving rapidly to expand its presence in China's Taiwan region and overseas, such as India, Nigeria, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines.
The company became the original design manufacturer of India's then largest handset brand, Micromax, in 2007.
In October 2015, Gionee's new lifestyle F Series F103 was launched as the first Made in India phone in Sri City, India.
"We have over 20,000 retail points in India. By the end of the year we want this number to reach 50,000 and then we want to grow it to 100,000," William Lu told Indian local media during the Mobile World Congress held in February in Barcelona, Spain.
