New Delhi: The crowded Indian smartphone market, which currently has over 20 brands selling their devices, will not be able to support more than six successful firms in the long run, former CEO of tech giant Apple John Sculley said.
Sculley, who has also served as the president of the PepsiCo, said his own firm Obi Mobiles will leverage expertise in marketing and sales to ensure its place in the top six.
He said technology has now been “commoditised” and companies now need to focus on the brand and building customer loyalty.
“Technology is a commodity, I grew up in commodity markets and I love that. There is little difference in what’s there in a Coke bottle and a Pepsi bottle. It’s all in the brand and the loyalty that you can build with the customer,” Sculley said.
He added that with commoditisation of technology, many players are coming in and trying to differentiate with different features.
The experience in consumer businesses that have commodity technology, is that one ends up with six companies in the market, he added.
“Markets, even as big like India, can't really support more than half a dozen very successful companies,” Sculley said.
He pointed out that the market will see such a situation in about three years and said “I think this thing will sort itself out pretty fast, within three years. It’s not driven by us, its driven by how things are happening.”
