Gionee confirms its restructuring plans for India

Chinese phone maker Gionee has confirmed its restructuring plans for India. However, one of the top executives of the company has said that it doesn't intend to scale down its operations in the country. Chang David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee India told IANS, "We are in the process of restructuring our India team and executing a completely different business model for the brand in the market very soon,"

"We are equally excited about our presence in the Indian market and would like to assure all Gionee lovers that the brand is here to stay," Chang added. His statement comes a day after reports about Gionee planning to scale down its operations in India emerged online. According to Counterpoint Research, the company had 2.2 percent share in the Indian smartphone market for 2017.

Gionee, which arrived in India in 2012, claims to have a retail presence in over 42,000 stores along with 600 exclusive service centers in the country. The company also claims to have a customer base of
1.25 crore in India. Furthermore, the company has lately been aggressively pushing for sports sponsorship.

Apart from that, Chang also dismissed the rumors of Gionee facing financial woes in paying its suppliers in China. "Recently, on 16th January 2018, some slanderous information about Gionee's senior executive was reported on social media, in an attempt to malign the reputation of the company," Chang was quoted as saying by IANS.
"We, hereby, announce this information is proved to be untrue," added the Gionee executive.

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The Chinese media reported last month that a local court has frozen 41.4 percent stake of Gionee Chairman and Chief Executive Liu Li Rong for two years. While the exact reason was not known, reports suggested it was because of the "gambling debts".

"Gionee continues to hold a market share of 3.3 percent in China and is determined to grow steadily over the years to come," Chang noted.

Coming back to the Indian market, after running domestic operations for almost five years, Gionee India's CEO and Managing Director Arvind Vohra resigned from his position in August last year. However, Vohra still continues as the company's Executive Director.