UK-based Meridian group launches 'Fly' phones in India

New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) The UK-based Meridian group, which commands a 3-5 per cent market share from its operations in Eastern and Central Europe at present, today launched its flagship brand 'Fly' for GSM phones in India.

''Our market share globally is around 3-5 per cent and we are looking at holding the same share in the Indian market with the launch of our phones here,'' Mobile Telecom India operations CEO Rajiv Khanna told reporters here.

The company plans to launch 12-15 phones by the year-end, with two more phones in the fray, next month.

''With the replacement market getting stronger, it is important to have fully loaded phones which are feature rich. Meridian will offer the buyer with smart value choices,'' Mr Khanna said on the launch.

''Our phones fall in the middle to high-segment and we are looking at producing 250,000 units in India by 2006 and a turnover of Rs 100 crore by the year-end,'' Mr Khanna said and added that ''at present we are not playing in the consumer segments.'' Speaking about the marketing strategy for the Indian market, Mr Khanna said, ''Our strategy is to focus on store branding and forging alliances with retailers. We have big plans for the retail market, and hope to reach 5000 premium counters by the end of the first quarter, which will together account for 70 per cent of the over-all retail-sales.'' The company is likely to spend two million dollars on marketing in the first year.

The three models launched today include the Fly SL 500M priced at Rs 9,999, Fly SL 300 M at Rs 7,999, and Fly MP 330 priced at Rs 9,499.

'Fly' was launched in Eastern and Central Europe two years back and will be launched in the UK, Spain, Germany and South Asia. The Delhi office set up two years back oversees operations in South East Asia. The company will be setting up an office in Mumbai soon.

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